Pharmacy student training in United States hospices

Abstract

Hospice is a quickly growing field in health care in the United States. As the pharmacist’s role in providing patient care to persons at the end of life increases, considerations should be given for training pharmacy students in this area. The objectives of this study were to examine the frequency of pharmacy student education and training among United States hospice organizations as well as to describe factors of hospice organizations that are associated with pharmacy student training. This is the first study of which we are aware to address the availability of experiential rotations for pharmacy students in hospice programs. A one-page questionnaire was mailed to 3,762 hospice organizations with addresses obtained from the National Hospice and Palliative Care Organization (NHPCO). Following two mailings, eight weeks apart, 907 responses were obtained. Ninety-four (10 percent) hospices trained pharmacy students, 246 (27 percent) trained medical students, 357 (39 percent) trained social work students, and 623 (69 percent) trained nursing students. These results indicate that the experiential training needs of United States pharmacy students are being addressed. However, further study is warranted to describe the various experiences of pharmacy students within the hospice setting.