Training the next generation of doctors
At St Catherine’s we’re committed to providing education and training as we know this is how we will reach more people and contribute towards our vision of a world where everyone can face death informed, supported and pain free.
As part of this, we’re proud to train the next generation of doctors. Sharing their expertise, one of our consultants, alongside other clinical colleagues at our hospice and our Education team, held two days of training for medical students from Brighton University recently.
The fourth-year students were able to speak to patients on the ward, hear from one of our community patients and a bereaved relative, as well as learn more about palliative care as a specialty
Part of the training session also focused on their own wellbeing needs and many of them told us this was the first time that they’d been asked to think about their own resilience as doctors.
Kate Wells, our Lead for Emotional Support and Social Care said, “I asked them what resilience might look like as they move further into their career and asked them to think about how they can build their own strategies to maintain and strengthen their resilience”
We also spoke to some of the students to find out how the training supports their learning as future doctors. Here’s what they said:
Name: Julia
Is the training what you expected?
“It’s the first training I’ve had in palliative care and was thorough”
How did the training support your learning?
“It provided a holistic overview of patient care which we’ve not been taught that much before. It also helped us understand the different needs – spiritual, financial, physical, psychological that patients and their families have.”
What’s the best thing you’ve learned from attending this training?
“The psychological aspect of care and how to talk to patients. The hospice is positive and lovely.”
Name: Sasha
Is this training what you expected?
“I didn’t know what to expect. We’ve never talked about death and dying on our course, it’s very treatment orientated but we encounter death when we’re on placement and then we’re not always sure how to handle it.”
How did this training support your learning?
“It opened up conversations about death and it’s made me feel more comfortable talking about it which is important. It’s made me reflective of the words I use. It’s also given me a better understanding of what palliative care is and the role of palliative care. We need to have lectures and seminars like this a lot earlier in medical school. We’re fourth year students but I think training like this should be introduced a lot earlier as it would make us think about the concept of working in palliative care as a career and speciality more”
What’s the best thing you’ve learned from attending this training?
“It helps us with how to talk with people, what language to use and helps us to become more aware of what we will encounter as doctors in the future. It’s also taught me that it’s okay to have open discussions and talk honestly with patients and families. I often worry I’ll say the wrong thing so I’m sometimes tentative with my language but it’s important we have these discussions openly and clearly.
It’s been really powerful listening to patients and relatives and I’m learning more about what end of life care could look like. It’s not the idea of end of life I had but the training has shown me different people’s circumstances”
Name: Hussain
How did this training support your learning?
“It was great to learn more about how cancer and terminal patients are cared for here and the comfort that hospices bring to people.”
What’s the best thing you’ve learned from attending this training?
“As doctors we’re not trained in severe pain relief. We manage medicine and refer to teams like the hospice so it’s good to know about signposting.
It’s been nice being here, it’s my first time in a hospice.”
Name: Puja
Is this training what you expected?
“Yes it’s more than what I expected”
How did this training support your learning?
“It gave us a holistic idea of how patients are dealt with. Most of our training is clinical and about diagnosis and treatment but this showed what things are important to a patient.”
What’s the best thing you’ve learned from attending this training?
“Communication and not to shy away from the subject of death. It’s important that patients have dignity and it’s reminded me that death is as important as life.
I’ve also learned the importance of support systems and looking after caregivers after bereavement. Sometimes as doctors we focus on the patient and forget about other people that are affected. I think all medical schools should do this training; it addresses a part of medicine that hasn’t been covered on our course until now.
Name: Tharaga
How did this training support your learning?
“We really got to empathise with patients and understand how their journey is focused on their palliative needs.”
What’s the best thing you’ve learned from attending?
“That we need to be honest with our patients. One of the patients we spoke to told us that they would rather have been told they’re dying by a doctor then not be told that directly
We need to have better communication with people we’re caring for in general.
This has been such a well organised course with so many aspects of what we need to know as future doctors covered. We’ve also learned about teamwork with multidisciplinary teams, resilience, wellbeing and empathy.”
