Palliative Care Education in Nigerian Medical Schools Curriculum: Impact on Newly Qualified Doctors' Knowledge

Outcomes 1. Recognize the importance of integrating palliative care education into undergraduate medical curricula. 2. Understand how to evaluate the impact of different forms of palliative care education on the knowledge of newly qualified medical doctors. Key Message This study highlights the urgent need for integrating standardized palliative care education into Nigerian medical school curricula. The research underscores the significant impact of education, particularly clinical training, on the knowledge of newly qualified medical doctors. It identifies strengths and weaknesses in knowledge areas and recommends collaborative efforts to advance education and practice, ultimately benefiting patients facing life-limiting illnesses. Introduction To increase universal access palliative care services, palliative care training is recommended in undergraduate medical education(1). However, only three out of forty accredited medical schools in Nigeria have integrated clinical palliative care education into their curricula(2, 3). Objectives To elucidate the impact of palliative care education in the undergraduate medical curriculum on the palliative care knowledge of newly qualified medical doctors in Nigeria. Methods Data were collected from medical graduates from fourteen medical schools across Nigeria's six Geo-political zones using a structured online survey of four sections. A 33-item validated and reliable test (PEACE-Q)(4) covering various knowledge domains was adapted to the Nigerian context with guidance from a palliative care expert, to objectively measure knowledge. Data analysis employed IBM's SPSS Statistics 28.0.1.1. Results The study included 96 participants categorized into three groups: 27(28.1%) had no palliative care education, 34(35.4%) received lectures only, and 35(36.5%) had clinical education. 21(21.9%) participants reported personalized palliative care exposure during medical school, typically through clinical electives and self-directed learning. Of the participants, 69(71.9%) had experienced managing life-limiting illnesses in their practice, with 17(17.7%) encountering palliative care practices during internship. 64(66.7%) expressed interest in further palliative care training, though none aspired to specialize in palliative medicine. Clinical education had the most significant impact, followed by lectures only, which outperformed having no education. The analysis revealed a p-value of 0.004 for a knowledge score ≥17, differences in score distribution is < 0.001. Question item analysis unveiled participants' stronger knowledge in domains related to "psychological distress" and "communication" but lower knowledge scores in domains related to "dyspnea" and "delirium." Conclusion This research pioneers a comprehensive examination of palliative care education in Nigerian medical schools. It underscores the importance of incorporating clinical palliative care education into all medical school curricula as it proves as most impact on knowledge. Keywords Workforce / Career DevelopmentGlobal Palliative Care