Feature
Watch the Video, Earn the Credits
Learn how to improve care transitions and prevent avoidable hospital readmissions, and pick up nursing and medical education con-ed credits.
Read more
Group Seeks to Strengthen End-of-Life Care Content in Medical Licensing Exams
Development of recommendations to incorporate end-of-life issues in the medical licensure exam
From 1998 to 2002, project staff at the National Board of Medical Examiners, Philadelphia, and expert consultants worked to strengthen the end-of-life care content in the medical licensing exams physicians must pass to practice medicine.
The project was part of the Robert Wood Johnson Foundation's (RWJF) national program Targeted End-of-Life Projects Initiative.
Key Results: The project accomplished the following:
- In its initial meeting in September 1998, the End-of-Life Care Committee identified five domains of end-of-life care:
- Pain and non-pain symptoms.
- Communication skills.
- Psycho-social issues.
- Ethics.
- Hospital care and community resources.
- More than 500 exam questions pertaining to end-of-life were written and submitted for review; 333 were accepted.
- In its February 2002 meeting to assess the project, the End-of-Life Committee concluded that end-of-life care topics were still inadequately covered in the licensing exams.
Targeted End-of-Life Projects Initiative Projects - Strategy 1
Individual project results from the RWJF Targeted End-of-Life Projects Initiative, strategy 1: To improve the knowledge and capacity of health care professionals and others to care for the dying.
Read the Program Results for Targeted End-of-Life Projects Initiative View all