Through our extensive reporting with medical professionals, we learned that many medical schools often provide insufficient training around death and dying. With the COVID-19 pandemic creating great need, this guide is meant to be a resource for physicians.
Download a printable PDF poster of this guide here.
The facts
- Delivering news about death can be difficult and emotionally taxing for physicians.
- End-of-life conversations are not a focus for most medical schools.
- There is insufficient training in communication for clinicians.
- In 2020, emergency medicine physicians experienced increased levels of burnout and emotional exhaustion.
Conversation guides
- Looking for guides on having conversations that help patients and family members say goodbye? Here’s a list of resources.
- Looking for steps on how to deliver a death notification? Try the GRIEV_ING mnemonic.
- Want to practice having a conversation? Try this app.
Learn more
- Have questions or want to share more? Reach us at @KHNews and @reveal.
- Listen to our story that follows a new doctor dealing with death during the pandemic.
Physicians guide to having end-of-life conversations is a story from Reveal. Reveal is a registered trademark of The Center for Investigative Reporting and is a 501(c)(3) tax exempt organization.