Clinical teaching of care for terminally ill in a psychiatry clerkship

Courses in dying and death and other human values issues have become an integral part of the curricula of many medical schools, but formal teaching of the phenomenon of dying is found less frequently in a clinical setting, especially as a portion of a required medical student rotation. In this paper the author describes the dying and death component of the required psychiatry clerkship at Dartmouth Medical School. The educational objectives and instructional methods were developed to enhance the student doctor's understanding of what terminal patients experience in psychosocial needs and to explore his role and skill in caring for patients in terminal situations.