How Ochsner Health integrated palliative care training into its medical school curriculum

How Ochsner Health integrated palliative care training into its medical school curriculum
CAPC blog; by Thomas Morel, Susan Nelson, Elizabeth Monies, Sarah Jin Lee; 8/14/25
Making the case for palliative care in undergraduate medical education—and practical advice for getting started. We always begin our palliative care lecture for fourth-year medical students with a loss exercise... "This experience underscores the reality that anyone can become seriously ill, and everyone deserves access to the benefits of palliative care." Medical schools have a unique opportunity—and responsibility—to teach foundational palliative care principles. The need is clear: research shows increasing demand for quality palliative care education. Yet in the U.S, medical schools vary widely in how—or whether—they include it in their curricula.