Issue date: 8/28/06 Section: News

Media Credit: Matt Orchard Bruce Metzger, volunteer coordinator for Odyssey Healthcare, discusses the importance of 'end-of-life' care with first-year medical students at the College of Medicine on Friday. Metzger has been working with the UA College of Medicine to include hospice as part of students' third and fourth-year medical rotations.

First-year medical students were urged to embrace hospice as the crowning stage of complete health care for terminally ill patients during a lecture at the UA College of Medicine on Friday.

Bruce Metzger, volunteer coordinator for Odyssey Healthcare, said he has been working with the university for the last four years to begin a curriculum that would heal the doctor-patient disconnect during the final stages of life.

"We would love to be able to provide rotations for hospice - and also how to break bad news, to not be afraid," said Metzger.

Hospice training isn't a requirement for graduation from UA's medical school, mirroring a nationwide trend that lacks exposure to palliative care.

UA students have the option to engage in hospice care during their studies, while other rotations, including radiology and pediatrics, are mandatory, said Metzger.

Tucson representatives of nationwide hospice provider Odyssey Healthcare gave the presentation as part of a case study where students tracked a patient's fatal progression of pancreatic cancer, said Josh Lopez, director of UA's Willed Body Program.

Hospice, or "palliative care," combines pain management and spiritual services alongside social and financial counseling for final-stage patients and their family members.

"I'm very passionate about what we do," said Paula Thornton, director of patient services for Odyssey. "This is the most complete form of medical service I've ever seen."

Patients in hospice must be diagnosed by a physician as terminally ill with less than a year to live, Thornton said.

Continued...

Page 1 of 2 next >

Article Tools