ABSTRACT
Problem
Palliative care (PC) is high value, holistic care for a child and their family across
the entire arc of an illness. All physicians should be competent in symptom management
and providing goal-concordant care that acknowledges quality of life; however, there
is insufficient education in pediatric residency to develop competence in basic or
“Primary” Palliative Care (PC).
Approach
We completed a needs assessment and developed a longitudinal, comprehensive, and integrated
primary PC curriculum for pediatric residents with the goal of developing foundational
primary PC skills regardless of eventual career trajectory. After one year of implementation,
we assessed resident comfort with primary PC skills via retrospective pre-post survey.
Outcomes
We found a statistically significant (p<0.05) increase in residents’ comfort with
pain management, delivering serious news, and discussing goals of care. An increase
in comfort with management of other symptoms was not statistically significant.
Next Steps
After one year of implementation, residents describe an increase in comfort with primary
PC skills. Next steps include more rigorous evaluation and expansion to include more
education in medical ethics. While the educational need is universal, resident needs
are constantly evolving and each institution should tailor this curriculum to fit
their specific trainee needs and institutional expertise.
Keywords
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Article info
Publication history
Accepted:
March 15,
2023
Received:
September 15,
2022
Publication stage
In Press Journal Pre-ProofIdentification
Copyright
© 2023 Published by Elsevier Inc.
