Supportive and Palliative Care and Spirituality

This course will teach the basis of palliative care and how to approach the care of patients with serious or chronic illness and/or those who are dying. Palliative care is defined as starting from the time patients are diagnosed with serious illness, thus the principles of palliative care apply to patients dealing with chronic illness, over the span of their lives. The required domains of palliative care include the psychosocial and spiritual issues as well as the physical. Students will have the opportunity to experience the Supportive and Palliative Care Multidisciplinary Clinic in Oncology which includes chaplains, social workers, art therapists and psychiatrists as well as physicians. Issues discussed will be psychosocial and spiritual distress as well as physical pain and other symptoms and ethical issues related to patient care as well as self-care of the physician. Students will learn how to conduct clinical interviews in a team of multidisciplinary health care professionals and how to do a whole person assessment and treatment plan. The course involves some lecture and small group interaction and mostly clinical experiences at the MFA-GWU Supportive and Palliative Care Clinic and with other clinicians who see patients in the outpatient setting.