UF College of Medicine wins national award for end-of-life curriculum

The American Medical Student Association has recognized the University of Florida College of Medicine for excellence in integrating education in end-of-life and palliative care issues into its medical curriculum. UF’s program will be offered as a model curriculum to medical schools nationwide.

The 2001 Paul R. Wright Excellence in Medical Education Award was presented to the college March 31 at AMSA’s national convention in Anaheim, Calif. More than 10 UF students and faculty attended the convention.

Established in 1992, the annual award is designed to recognize medical schools whose exemplary achievements in medical education best foster the development of socially responsive physicians, as well as to encourage students to recognize their school’s strengths in medical education. Third-year medical student Billy Fenster, an AMSA member, coordinated UF’s application effort.

UF received a plaque and $2,500 to offset expenses for students who traveled to the convention.

“The most significant thing about the award is not that we have been selected as the winner, but that there is a national recognition that schools need to do more in the teaching of issues related to palliative care and end-of-life so that students are better prepared to assist their patients,” said Lynn Romrell, associate dean for medical education. “Medical professionals could do much more in this area to aid their patients.”

Romrell helped accept the award on behalf of the college, along with Scott Howard, a second-year medical student and president of UF’s AMSA chapter.

AMSA will work with UF faculty and students to write up an educational program that will be distributed to medical schools nationwide and posted on the Internet this August.

UF students benefit from many educational opportunities that address end-of-life issues, including presentations by patients who share what it is like to live with a terminal illness; workshops with local hospice staff; discussions on perceptions of disease, pain, suffering, birth and death throughout the centuries; and the opportunity to explore end-of-life issues related to specific fields of medicine.

A panel of medical students and experts from the field judged the entries.

The American Medical Student Association is the nation’s largest, independent medical student organization. The award is named for the organization’s current executive director.