New study examining palliative care awareness and training in rural family medicine postgraduate learners

Providing patients with the option to die with dignity in their own home on their own terms is a key component of a palliative approach to care, particularly in rural settings. One way to address this issue is to have a more upstream approach, to build capacity in rurally trained physicians to deliver quality palliative care. It has been shown that in residency training, learners feel that their education in palliative care is lacking.

The team is currently conducting a mixed-method study, assessing the feasibility of a survey and semi structured interview to determine preliminary evidence on the nature of educational gaps and needs of rurally trained family medicine physicians in providing palliative care. Initial major themes that have come from one-on-one interviews show concerns in understanding of palliative care, application of palliative care in rural family medicine training, barriers to provision of palliative care, and palliative care education.

Data has been collected and results are currently being analyzed. The team aims to present findings to the Department of Family Medicine and division of Palliative Care, so that it may inform future curriculum development, as well as publish the results in an open access journal.