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How Physicians are Trained to Interact With the Dying: A Thematic Analysis of Medical Student Exposures to End-Of-Life Cases.

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Title: How Physicians are Trained to Interact With the Dying: A Thematic Analysis of Medical Student Exposures to End-Of-Life Cases.
Authors: Currey, Erin1,2 (AUTHOR) ecurrey@umich.edu, Fessler, M. Margaret3 (AUTHOR), Wong, Caroline2 (AUTHOR), Giger, Dasha2 (AUTHOR), Collier, Kristin4 (AUTHOR)
Source: Omega: Journal of Death & Dying. Aug2026, Vol. 93 Issue 3, p1566-1582. 17p.
Subject Terms: *Thanatology, *Curriculum, *Qualitative research, *Health occupations students, *Psychological adaptation, *Medical schools, *Research methodology, *Communication, *Psychology of medical students, *Student attitudes, *Grief, *Needs assessment, *Cultural pluralism, Attitudes toward death, Research funding, Statistical sampling, Interviewing, Descriptive statistics, Hospital medical staff, Thematic analysis, Patient-professional relations, Physicians, Terminal care, Terminally ill
Geographic Terms: Midwest (U.S.)
Abstract: Physicians-in-training feel uncomfortable coping with the grief they experience while delivering end-of-life care, and medical schools offer minimal formal curricular offerings on end of life care. Few studies have identified what experiences medical students have with death while training or what lessons they are being taught by more senior physicians at bedside. This qualitative study conducted semi-structured interviews prior to and six months into the medical school clinical year. Our goal was to identify when students were encountering seriously ill/dying patients and what informal education students received about caring for dying patients. Descriptive statistics showed the majority of the encounters the students had with seriously ill or dying patients were in the hospital-based medicine setting. A minority of students participated in debriefs about end-of-life care with their care teams after the events. Thematic analysis showed significant heterogeneity in students' exposure and responses to patient deaths. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]
Copyright of Omega: Journal of Death & Dying is the property of Sage Publications Inc. and its content may not be copied or emailed to multiple sites without the copyright holder's express written permission. Additionally, content may not be used with any artificial intelligence tools or machine learning technologies. However, users may print, download, or email articles for individual use. This abstract may be abridged. No warranty is given about the accuracy of the copy. Users should refer to the original published version of the material for the full abstract. (Copyright applies to all Abstracts.)
Database: Education Research Complete
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  Data: How Physicians are Trained to Interact With the Dying: A Thematic Analysis of Medical Student Exposures to End-Of-Life Cases.
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  Data: <searchLink fieldCode="JN" term="%22Omega%3A+Journal+of+Death+%26+Dying%22">Omega: Journal of Death & Dying</searchLink>. Aug2026, Vol. 93 Issue 3, p1566-1582. 17p.
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  Data: Physicians-in-training feel uncomfortable coping with the grief they experience while delivering end-of-life care, and medical schools offer minimal formal curricular offerings on end of life care. Few studies have identified what experiences medical students have with death while training or what lessons they are being taught by more senior physicians at bedside. This qualitative study conducted semi-structured interviews prior to and six months into the medical school clinical year. Our goal was to identify when students were encountering seriously ill/dying patients and what informal education students received about caring for dying patients. Descriptive statistics showed the majority of the encounters the students had with seriously ill or dying patients were in the hospital-based medicine setting. A minority of students participated in debriefs about end-of-life care with their care teams after the events. Thematic analysis showed significant heterogeneity in students' exposure and responses to patient deaths. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]
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  Data: <i>Copyright of Omega: Journal of Death & Dying is the property of Sage Publications Inc. and its content may not be copied or emailed to multiple sites without the copyright holder's express written permission. Additionally, content may not be used with any artificial intelligence tools or machine learning technologies. However, users may print, download, or email articles for individual use. This abstract may be abridged. No warranty is given about the accuracy of the copy. Users should refer to the original published version of the material for the full abstract.</i> (Copyright applies to all Abstracts.)
PLink https://search.ebscohost.com/login.aspx?direct=true&site=eds-live&db=ehh&AN=194757691
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      – Type: doi
        Value: 10.1177/00302228241265526
    Languages:
      – Code: eng
        Text: English
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      Pagination:
        PageCount: 17
        StartPage: 1566
    Subjects:
      – SubjectFull: Thanatology
        Type: general
      – SubjectFull: Curriculum
        Type: general
      – SubjectFull: Qualitative research
        Type: general
      – SubjectFull: Health occupations students
        Type: general
      – SubjectFull: Psychological adaptation
        Type: general
      – SubjectFull: Medical schools
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      – SubjectFull: Research methodology
        Type: general
      – SubjectFull: Communication
        Type: general
      – SubjectFull: Psychology of medical students
        Type: general
      – SubjectFull: Student attitudes
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      – SubjectFull: Grief
        Type: general
      – SubjectFull: Needs assessment
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      – SubjectFull: Cultural pluralism
        Type: general
      – SubjectFull: Attitudes toward death
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      – SubjectFull: Research funding
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      – SubjectFull: Statistical sampling
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      – SubjectFull: Interviewing
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      – SubjectFull: Descriptive statistics
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      – SubjectFull: Hospital medical staff
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      – SubjectFull: Thematic analysis
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      – SubjectFull: Patient-professional relations
        Type: general
      – SubjectFull: Physicians
        Type: general
      – SubjectFull: Terminal care
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      – SubjectFull: Terminally ill
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      – SubjectFull: Midwest (U.S.)
        Type: general
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      – TitleFull: How Physicians are Trained to Interact With the Dying: A Thematic Analysis of Medical Student Exposures to End-Of-Life Cases.
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              Text: Aug2026
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