[Medical students and graduates' perceptions of preparation to face a patient's death]

Historically, death has been socially accepted, but for the last decades it has been hidden in hospitals, transforming physicians into "death specialists". Thus, medical graduates should feel prepared to assume this responsibility accompanying the patient and their family through the process. With this in consideration, the present work explores students' and graduates' perceptions of preparation to face a patient's death (SPEM) in a Chilean Medical school and identifies SPEM-associated characteristics. An observational study was performed using a digital form sent by email to interns and 2018 and 2019 graduates of the Facultad de Medicina CAS-UDD, in which they were asked about their SPEM and possible SPEM-related variables. The results showed that 63% and 31% of interns and graduates reported feeling inadequately prepared or unprepared to address a patient's death, respectively. During the first two years of their profession, 71% of graduates faced a patient's death. There was a significant correlation between the SPEM and death-facing training. Considering these results and the previous evidence of the positive impact that classes and courses have on SPEM, it is suggested that an obligatory course should be added to improve SPEM in medical students.