Theme: palliative care education: Assessing medical students’ knowledge of and attitude towards

palliative care after placement at HAU

Give a brief introduction covering the issue: As part of its education program, Hospice Africa Uganda

(HAU) engages in teaching health workers across all cadres about palliative care. Since its inception in

1993, medical students at Makerere University have undergone placement in palliative care at HAU. This

form of placement is intended to expose them to the practical aspects of palliative care and the realities

in the homes of the suffering sick.

What is this project / research / presentation about? Why is it interesting / important?

To achieve its goal of increasing access to palliative care, HAU started up a unique programme together

with Makerere University and Ministry of Health which incorporated palliative care in the

undergraduate medicine curriculum, part of this includes a 4 day placement at Hospice Africa Uganda.

They also spend a day in the palliative care unit of Mulago National Referral Hospital.

Explain what gap your project is addressing and how it can be filled.

With the increasing population coupled with increasing HIV prevalence and cancer patients annually,

Uganda has patients that are continuously dying in a lot of pain and uncontrolled distresses. This is

multifactorial ranging from their choice to poor or distant health facilities poverty and preference for

traditional healers. To address this gap, this program was initiated to make sure that doctors who

graduate from Makerere University have knowledge and skills of palliative care.

Give an outline of the methods you will use or a description of the project.

This was a survey done using a questionnaire of 8 questions that was filled by medical students who

rotated at HAU in 2012 at the end of their placement.

Outline your results / outcomes of the project and what we learn from them.

Of the total 59 medical students that filled out the questionnaires; 100% agreed that there is always

something that can be done to improve quality of life despite how advanced or whatever treatments

have been given, 91% supported early palliative care intervention,60% of the students are willing to

work in a palliative care setting, 71% of the students knew that palliative care is not what is done when

nothing more can be done, 85% of the students knew that oral morphine used for pain control is not

addictive

Tell us what recommendations you believe can be derived from the project.: Clinical Palliative care

placements of medical students as shown by the results above increases knowledge and improves

attitude and should be done for all learners. Incorporation of palliative care in training curriculum of

health workers in Africa will help in increasing access to palliative care to those in need of it.