A DECADE BEYOND MEDICAL-SCHOOL - A LONGITUDINAL-STUDY OF PHYSICIANS ATTITUDES TOWARD DEATH AND TERMINALLY-ILL PATIENTS

Physicians were surveyed soon after graduation from medical school in 1976 to determine their attitudes toward death and terminally-ill pati ents and their families. A follow-up survey of the 1093 respondents wa s made in 1986 to ascertain if changes had occurred in their attitudes . Eight of the eleven Likert-type items showed statistically significa nt differences over time and by attitudes toward terminally-ill patien ts and their families. These data present evidence to suggest that phy sicians in 1986 were more open in telling dying patients their prognos is than in 1976.