Death education in selected health professions

Abstract

Health professionals have a high probability of working with populations experiencing death and other types of loss. Surveys of medical, nursing, pharmacy, dental, and social work schools in the United States to determine their offerings in thanatology revealed that the majority (with the exception of dentistry) offer some education on death and dying. Because most of the offerings are limited to one or two lectures, a high percentage of students are graduating with limited formal exposure in this area. However, offerings have come a long way since the early 1970s.