Emotional impact of end-of-life decisions among medical students: a French national survey

Introduction > The question of the end-of-life decision-making hos recently received a new legislative framework in France with the publication and revision of the leonetti's low. The aim of this study conducted among medical students assessed the emotional impact of these decisions. Methods > An anonymous, notional survey including 17 questions with single or multiple choices constructed by a multidisciplinary team was proposed to every medical student during a meeting just before becoming residents. The questionnaire explored personal feelings when such o decision occurred, expected modalities of learning and theoretical knowledge about principles of the low. The descriptive results are presented in percentage (with 95% confidence interval) or mean (standard deviation) as appropriate. Results > Of the 3600 students, 3187 questionnaires (88%) were collected and analysed. During their clinical practice, 85% [83-86] of medical students were exposed to an end-of-life decision. Sixty seven percent [63-71] of students expressed a transient feeling of discouragement and 62% [59-67] even expressed harmful feelings. These situations have led 10% of them to change their career planning. Students reported to shore their difficulties with a senior physician and on absence of adequate "training" to deal with these situations. Discussion > End-of-life decisions are frequently encountered during medical course. The psychological impact on young students is significant in more than half of the cases, even causing changes in their career planning. The training of students will probably move towards gathering of small groups sharing their experiences.