Advancing End-of-Life Care (KISC)

4 units

Medical professionals from across specialties need specific knowledge and skills to help patients and their care partners navigate the challenges of serious and end-stage illness. The goal of the Advancing End-of-Life Care KISC is to immerse students into contemporary issues surrounding serious illness and end-of-life care. Students will gain foundational knowledge about basic physiological processes in serious illness, how they influence the illness trajectory and experience, and how they are managed clinically. In parallel, students will learn about working with an inter-professional team to address quality of life across domains, with information about evidence-based interventions from psychological-social-spiritual perspectives. Students will learn and demonstrate ways to effectively communicate bad news to patients and family members experiencing end-of-life care issues and related medical decisions. Finally, students will learn about legal and ethical principles in the context of end-of-life and terminal illness care. During the KISC, students rotate through four different clinical settings, each for one week, including a residential hospice, inpatient palliative care consult service, outpatient geriatrics clinics, and a palliative care and hospice unit. These rotations are structured primarily as observerships emphasizing breadth of exposure across clinical settings and interprofessional teams over direct patient care. By the close of the KISC, students will leave with a comprehensive knowledge about the end-of-life care landscape and skills in navigating serious illness care.