PPT18 ‘More than morphine’ – enhancing resident doctors’ confidence and awareness through a one-day educational palliative care conference

<h3>Background</h3> Resident doctors have expressed a need for improved education around caring for patients at the end of life.¹ Members of the specialist palliative care team can play a vital role in training.² <h3>Methods</h3> A 1-day palliative care conference ‘More than Morphine’ was designed and organised by palliative medicine speciality trainees in the Northern Deanery. Teaching on core topics was delivered via 6 face-to-face presentations plus an additional session on careers, with content guided by pre-conference feedback from attendees. Paired pre and post conference likert scales were used to measure resident doctors’ ‘Confidence’ and ‘Awareness’ on core palliative care topics. Qualitative data from evaluation forms were analysed using content analysis. <h3>Results</h3> The conference was attended by 48 resident doctors and 42 completed feedback. Symptom management, assessing the dying patient and communication were aspects of palliative care that participants highlighted as challenging. Following the event, there was a rise in the percentage of resident doctors who felt confident in managing: 1. Agitation - 21% to 86% 2. Prescribing at end of life - 29% to 83% 3. Nausea and vomiting - 17% to 81% 4. Emergencies and emergency health care plans - 10% to 76% There was also an increase in the percentage of doctors who felt aware of issues around: 5. Assisted dying - 10% to 83% 6. Hydration and nutrition at end of life – 31% to 88% Resident doctors reported feeling more equipped with practical advice on how to approach complex patient scenarios and deliver individualised care. <h3>Conclusion</h3> Delivery of a one-day regional palliative care conference allows palliative care education to be delivered on a large scale to generalist providers, improving resident doctors’ confidence and awareness around core palliative care topics. Impact on future clinical practice and extrapolation of this initiative to wider professional groups should be further explored. <h3>References</h3> Bharmal A, Morgan T, Kuhn I, <i>et al</i>. Palliative and end-of-life care and junior doctors: a systematic review and narrative synthesis. <i>BMJ Supportive &amp; Palliative Care</i> 2022;<b>12</b>:e862–e868. Price S, Schofield S. How do junior doctors in the UK learn to provide end of life care: a qualitative evaluation of postgraduate education. <i>BMC Palliat Care</i> 14, 45 (2015). https://doi.org/10.1186/s12904-015-0039-6