Determinants of Medical Students' Perceived Preparation To Perform End-of-Life Care, Quality of End-of-Life Care Education, and Attitudes Toward End-of-Life Care

Abstract Background: Medical students' learning about end-of-life care can be categorized into three learning modalities: formal curriculum, taught in lectures; informal curriculum, conveyed through clinical experiences; and “hidden curriculum,” inferred from behaviors and implicit in medical culture. In this study, we evaluated associations between survey items assessing these learning modalities and students' perceptions of their preparation, quality of education, and attitudes toward end-of-life care. Methods: Data were collected from a national survey of fourth-year medical students (n = 1455) at 62 medical schools in 2001. Linear regression analyses were performed to assess associations between formal, informal and hidden end-of-life care curricula and students' perceived preparedness to provide end-of-life care, quality of end-of-life care education and attitudes toward end-of-life, controlling for students' demographics and clustered by school. Results: Students reporting more exposure to formal an...