CPR can break ribs and puncture lungs. Just five of 126 medical schools have a specific course in caring for the dying. Only one in four has any curriculum on dying. Proposals include clinical rounds through hospices. Next spring, MUSC may start a pilot project of partnering students with terminally ill patients.
Students follow the patient and family until death.
A similar project at Stanford University has been so successful there's a waiting list to take part. If letting go of curative care is tough for medical workers, imagine the agony for patients and families. Some decide it's worth any amount of pain for a hair of hope. Imagine you were lying on the hospital bed. Another problem is dealing with family members who must watch their father or wife or brother or sister die.