Abstract
Objective: To see if medical students report feeling more comfortable and prepared leading code status discussions (CSD) after a palliative care education session centered on holding CSD and CPR statistics.
Background and Rationale: There is minimal exposure to CSD content leading into the third year of medical school. Students are asked to independently perform these skills, without prior instruction (1). With the changing landscape of education at SFESOM, we wanted to develop a palliative care education session led by experts during intersession that made students more comfortable and prepared to lead CSD. We sought to aid in developing and designing a session that would address these issues and measure the impact on students.
Designs and Methods: We designed a session focused on CSD led by palliative care experts. To measure student-reported outcomes, we administered a pre and post-survey designed to measure students’ comfortability and preparedness around CSD. The session was conducted midway through the first clinical year.
Results: After the session, more people felt prepared and comfortable to lead CSD and felt comfortable discussing CPR statistics. Most students reported already having had a CSD with a patient, learning from a resident in FM or IM. Students appreciated learning statistics and valuable language from the session.
Conclusions: The session was successful at improving student-reported outcomes and should be repeated in pre-clinical spaces.
References
- Rowe, K. A., Ouchi, K., Kennedy, M., Breu, A. C., Tolchin, D. W., & Schwartz, A. W. (2024). Preparing preclinical medical students for routine code status Discussions: A Mixed-Methods Study. Journal of Pain and Symptom Management, 67(2), 138–146. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.jpainsymman.2023.10.017
Return to Table of Contents: 2024 Core Educator Education Scholarship Retreat
Decoding Code Status by Marina Knysheva & Jessica Kunzman