This is an outdated version published on 2022-04-05. Read the most recent version.

Experience in a Palliative Care Unit in a Mexican Tertiary Level Hospital

Authors

  • Patricio García-Espinosa School of Medicine, Universidad Autónoma de Nuevo León, Monterrey. México and Mexican Institute of Social Security. Palliative Care Unit. High Specialty Medical Unit #25, Nuevo Léon, Monterrey. México. https://orcid.org/0000-0002-8139-806X

DOI:

https://doi.org/10.5195/ijms.2021.1145

Keywords:

Education, Palliative Medicine, Ethics, Pain, Pain Management

Abstract

Palliative care represents a form of holistic patient care at the end of life, from an emotional, spiritual, biological, and social approach; its ultimate purpose is to enhance human autonomy and dignity and to avoid therapeutic obstinacy. In international literature, there is not many mentions about the role we, undergraduate students, play as part of the palliative care team. It is necessary to be interested in seeking, learning, and understanding palliative care as undergraduate students, and not only the curative medical approach. It is important to emphasize that opioids are important drugs and that we should not be afraid of their use; on the contrary, it is vital to highlight their capacity to alleviate the pain and suffering of a patient and even of a family. When curative treatment is no longer an option, there is always something left for the medical team to do; such as initiating palliative care. I must emphasize that research in this area is still scarce and that the more research and improvement is being made, the more can be done to improve end-of-life care quality. The death of a patient, after all, is a collaborative work between the general physician, the nursing staff, and finally, most importantly, the family. Through this experience, I relate different lessons that I have learned during the first months of my year of medical social service, in the pain and palliative care clinic of the High Specialty Medical Unit #25.

Metrics

Metrics Loading ...

References

Dimoula M, Kotronoulas G, Katsaragakis S, Christou M, Sgourou S, Patiraki E. Undergraduate nursing students' knowledge about palliative care and attitudes towards end-of-life care: A three-cohort, cross-sectional survey. Nurse Educ Today. 2019 Mar;74:7-14.

Oliveira S, Santiago LM, Dourado M. Conhecimento sobre Cuidados Paliativos em Estudantes de Medicina da Universidade de Coimbra [Knowledge of Palliative Care Among Medical Students of the University of Coimbra]. Acta Med Port. 2020 Aug 27. Portuguese

Weber M, Schmiedel S, Nauck F, Alt-Epping B. Knowledge and attitude of final - year medical students in Germany towards palliative care - an interinstitutional questionnaire-based study. BMC Palliat Care. 2011 Nov 23;10:19.

Allende-Pérez, Silvia, et al. [Basic knowledge and perceptions in palliative care in undergraduate physicians at the National Autonomous University of Mexico: a cross-sectional study]. Med. Paliat. 2020 Apr-Jun;71-78. Spanish

de Antueno P, Silberberg A. [Efficacy of Palliative Care in Pain Relieving]. 2019 Jun;22(2):367-80. Spanish

Downloads

Published

2021-11-03 — Updated on 2022-04-05

Versions

How to Cite

García-Espinosa, P. (2022). Experience in a Palliative Care Unit in a Mexican Tertiary Level Hospital. International Journal of Medical Students, 10(1), 92–94. https://doi.org/10.5195/ijms.2021.1145

Issue

Section

Experience

Categories

Most read articles by the same author(s)