International Association for Hospice & Palliative Care News On-line

The Medical Faculty of the Ludwig-Maximilians-University (LMU), Munich, is the largest Medical School in Germany with 440 new students each year. Starting with the Winter Semester 2003/2004, the LMU is the first (and so far only) University in Germany with a mandatory curriculum in Palliative Care for all medical students. Palliative Care is taught in a three-step approach: 3^rd semester (communication skills and end-of-life issues), 6^th semester (psychosocial and spiritual aspects) and 9^th semester (symptom control and pain therapy). Tutors for the small group seminars (max. 15 students per group) involve all medical and non-medical professionals in the Palliative Care team. Additional in-depth learning opportunities are available for interested students. The Palliative Care undergraduate curriculum is coordinated through the newly established Education Center for Palliative Care of the LMU, which also organizes postgraduate training courses in Palliative Care. The program directors are Gian Domenico Borasio, MD (Chief Attending Physician, Interdisciplinary Palliative Care Unit of the LMU), and Bernadette-Fittkau-Tönnesmann, MD, MPH (Director, Education Center for Palliative Care). The LMU Palliative Care Curriculum is regarded by German medical students' associations as a model for the introduction of Palliative Care in German Medical Schools.