Survey of palliative care concepts among medical students in India

Background: Students must develop a "tension for change" before new material is learned. Therefore, a needs assessment generally precedes curriculum change in order to identify what the target population thinks they already know about a subject. Undergraduate medical education in India is a 4 1/2-year course. This is followed by a 1-year internship before the new physician can practice independently. Aim: To assess the level of awareness in palliative care concepts among final-year students at Kasturba Medical College, Manipal, India. Materials and Methods: One hundred eleven final-year students participated in a survey study 6 months before graduation. The data were collected after the survey and the responses were analyzed. Results: The reported theoretical knowledge of palliative care concepts was better than the level of confidence in performing practical aspects of palliative care. Conclusion: Before this survey, we hypothesized that medical students in India would have low levels of self-reported understanding of palliative care and its components. In contrast, they reported a high level of understanding of palliative care but very little understanding and confidence in performing the associated skills. From this, we conclude that these medical students are ready for instruction in the practical skills of palliative care.