A new, national competence-based curriculum of palliative medicine (PM) undergraduate teaching has recently been created to support mandatory PM education in Finnish medical schools.
Objectives:
To analyze the Finnish curriculum (FC) of PM and compare it with the European EDUPALL curriculum.
Material and Methods:
A qualitative documentary analysis was used to compare contents, learning methods, and delivery of teaching recommended in both curricula.
Results:
The FC provides practical and detailed instructions for learning core, important, and good-to-know knowledge of PM, both in a dedicated course and within other subjects. The structure of the FC is in accordance with EDUPALL. The FC (81 hours) makes up 1% of the total teaching volume of a six-year Finnish medical degree and is larger than EDUPALL (72 hours).
Conclusions:
The new FC aligns with the updated European Association for Palliative Care curriculum. The FC provides graduating physicians with sufficient basic knowledge of PM.
AldridgeMD, HasselaarJ, GarraldaE, et al.Education, implementation, and policy barriers to greater integration of palliative care: A literature review. Palliat Med, 2016; 30(3):224–239.
3.
KaasaS, LogeJH, AaproM, et al.Integration of oncology and palliative care: A Lancet Oncology Commission. Lancet Oncol, 2018; 19(11):e588–e653.
4.
KaliesH, SchöttmerR, SimonST, et al.Barriers for the implementation of guidelines in palliative care—results from a national survey of professionals. Support Care Cancer, 2018; 26(6):1943–1952.
5.
CaiY, LalaniN. Examining barriers and facilitators to palliative care access in rural areas: A scoping review. Am J Hosp Palliat Care, 2022; 39(1):123–130.
6.
BeekKV, WoithaK, AhmedN, et al.Comparison of legislation, regulations and national health strategies for palliative care in seven European countries (Results from the Europall Research Group): A descriptive study. BMC Health Serv Res, 2013; 13:275–211.
7.
HorowitzR, GramlingR, QuillT. Palliative care education in US medical schools. Med Educ, 2014; 48(1):59–66.
8.
GibbinsJ, McCoubrieR, MaherJ, et al.Recognizing that it is part and parcel of what they do: Teaching palliative care to medical students in the UK. Palliat Med, 2010; 24(3):299–305.
9.
MasonSR, LingJ, StanciulescuL, et al.From European Association for Palliative Care Recommendations to a blended, standardized, free-to-access undergraduate curriculum in palliative medicine: The EDUPALL Project. J Palliat Med, 2020; 23(12):1571–1585.
10.
Niemi-MurolaL, VanhanenA, AkrénO, et al.Medical students’ knowledge on palliative care–a survey of teaching in Finland. MedEdPublish, 2024; 14:27.
11.
LehtoJ, SaartoT, HirvonenO, et al.Palliatiivisen lääketieteen perusopetus: Suositus opetussuunnitelmasta yliopistojen lääketieteellisissä tiedekunnissa. University of Tampere; 2020.
12.
SuikkalaA, TohmolaA, RahkoEK, HökkäM. Future palliative competence needs–a qualitative study of physicians’ and registered nurses’ views. BMC Med Educ, 2021; 21(1):1–12.
13.
MelenderHL, HökkäM, SaartoT, LehtoJT. The required competencies of physicians within palliative care from the perspectives of multi-professional expert groups: A qualitative study. BMC Palliat Care, 2020; 19(1):1–11.
14.
LehtoJT, HakkarainenK, Kellokumpu-LehtinenPL, SaartoT. Undergraduate curriculum in palliative medicine at Tampere University increases students’ knowledge. BMC Palliat Care, 2017; 16(1):13–19.
15.
BowenGA. Document analysis as a qualitative research method. Qual Res J, 2009; 9(2):27–40.
16.
ToussaintV, PaalP, SimaderR, ElsnerF. The state of undergraduate palliative care education at Austrian medical schools—a mixed methods study. BMC Palliat Care, 2023; 22(1):151; doi: 10.1186/s12904-023-01255-9
17.
MurphyR, BarnesCJ, EnrightPD, et al.Mapping an undergraduate medical education curriculum against national and international palliative care reference learning objectives. BMC Med Educ, 2024; 24(1):105.
18.
SuijaK, MasonSR, ElsnerF, PaalP. Palliative care training in medical undergraduate education: A survey among the faculty. BMC Palliat Care, 2024; 23(1):19.
19.
DroniaMC, DillenK, ElsnerF, et al.Palliative care education and knowledge transfer into practice–a multicenter survey among medical students and resident physicians in Germany using a mixed-methods design. GMS J Med Educ, 2024; 41(3):Doc27.
20.
PietersJ, DolmansDHJM, van den Beuken-van EverdingenMHJ, et al.A national, palliative care competency framework for undergraduate medical curricula. IJERPH, 2020; 17(7):2396; doi: 10.3390/ijerph17072396
21.
LeppertW, SesiukA, Kotlińska–LemieszekA. Current status of academic palliative medicine in Poland: A nationwide study. BMC Palliat Care, 2022; 21(1):100.
22.
EychmüllerS, ForsterM, GudatH, et al.Undergraduate palliative care teaching in Swiss medical faculties: A nationwide survey and improved learning objectives. BMC Med Educ, 2015; 15(1):1–7.
23.
SchiesslC, WalsheM, WildfeuerS, et al.Undergraduate curricula in palliative medicine: A systematic analysis based on the palliative education assessment tool. J Palliat Med, 2013; 16(1):20–30.
24.
BarmanA. Critiques on the objective structured clinical examination. Ann Acad Med Singap, 2005; 34(8):478–482.
25.
LimJY, OngSYK, NgCYH, et al.A systematic scoping review of reflective writing in medical education. BMC Med Educ, 2023; 23(1):12.
26.
SchulzC, Wenzel-MeyburgU, KargerA, et al.Implementation of palliative care as a mandatory cross-disciplinary subject (QB13) at the Medical Faculty of the Heinrich-Heine-University Düsseldorf, Germany. GMS Z Für Med Ausbild, 2015; 32(1).
27.
HeathL, EganR, IosuaE, et al.Palliative and end of life care in undergraduate medical education: A survey of New Zealand medical schools. BMC Med Educ, 2022; 22(1):530.
28.
BurgerH, KrauseR, BlanchardC, et al.Position paper on undergraduate Palliative Medicine education for doctors in South Africa. Afr J Prim Health Care Fam Med, 2022; 14(1):e1–e7.
29.
BushSH, GrattonV, KabirM, et al.Building a medical undergraduate palliative care curriculum: Lessons learned. J Palliat Care, 2021; 36(1):29–37.
30.
FitzpatrickD, HeahR, PattenS, WardH. Palliative care in undergraduate medical education—how far have we come? Am J Hosp Palliat Care, 2017; 34(8):762–773.
31.
HökkäM, RajalaM, KaakinenP, et al.The effect of teaching methods in palliative care education for undergraduate nursing and medical students: a systematic review. Int J Palliat Nurs, 2022; 28(6):245–253.
32.
GarraldaE, TripodoroVA, LingJ, et al.EAPC Atlas of Palliative Care in the European Region 2025. Press kit; 2025.
