Pain curricula across healthcare professions undergraduate degrees: a cross-sectional study in Catalonia, Spain

BMC Medical Education

卷:19

Francisco Reinoso-Barbero¹  Lorena Martí²  Elena Castarlenas²  Isabel Salvat²  Jordi Miró²  Ester Solé² 

[1] Servicio de Anestesiología-Reanimación Infantil, Unidad de Dolor Infantil, Hospital Universitario La Paz;

[2] Universitat Rovira i Virgili, Unit for the Study and Treatment of Pain-ALGOS, Chair in Pediatric Pain URV-FG, Research Center in Beahvior Assessment and Measurement, Department of Psychology;

关键词: Pain education;    Curriculum;    Undergraduate training;    Teaching methods;    Health sciences;   

DOI  :  10.1186/s12909-019-1741-5

来源: DOAJ

【 摘 要 】

Abstract Background Pain management is a challenge and effective treatment requires professionals to collaborate if they are to address the needs of patients with pain. Comprehensive education and training is key to helping skilled professionals provide the best pain care possible. The objective of this work was to study the content of the pain education provided to undergraduates in healthcare and veterinary programs in Spain. Methods A survey was developed on the basis of previous surveys that had been used in the field. The final version included 31 questions about different issues on pain education, including, type of subject, number of pain mandatory/elective hours, and specific content covered. The survey was sent to all course leaders for all subjects on the undergraduate programs in Dentistry, Human Nutrition and Dietetics, Medicine, Nursing, Occupational Therapy, Pharmacy, Physiotherapy, Podiatry, Psychology, and Veterinary Science, in Catalonia, Spain. The survey was conducted from January to June, 2018. Students’ t-test were used to study mean differences in responses. Results A total of 550 course leaders from all healthcare undergraduate programs in Catalan universities took part. There were considerable differences in the number of pain-related hours among disciplines: Nursing reported the highest number of hours, and Psychology the lowest. The area least covered by all the disciplines was the “Management of pain”, and particularly the content related to the most vulnerable members of society (i.e., youths, the elderly and special populations). No interprofessional educational program on pain was identified. Conclusions Pain is not such a large component of the undergraduate healthcare curriculum in Spain as could be expected given the extent of pain and its impact. Curricula need to be changed so that the problems all stakeholders have with pain care can be addressed.

【 授权许可】

Unknown