Priyal Patel, DO is Assistant Professor and Fellowship Director for Hospice and Palliative Medicine at Nationwide Children’s Hospital in the Department of Anesthesiology and Pain Medicine. She applied for a Spark Award to support her project “Trainee Perspectives on What Factors Contribute to Comfort and Competency with Providing End of Life Care for Pediatric Patients.”
Despite improvements in medical education, pediatric trainees including those at Nationwide Children’s Hospital continue to experience significant discomfort and moral distress when providing end of life (EOL) care to children, revealing a critical gap in training. This study aims to identify emotional, educational and systemic barriers to EOL care competency, explore the roots of distress among pediatric and IM Peds residents and use these insights to develop a longitudinal evidence based curriculum.
Using a phenomenological approach, researchers will conduct semi structured focus group interviews stratified by postgraduate year to examine residents’ emotional and logistical challenges. The expected outcomes include a deeper understanding of the factors affecting trainee experiences and the development of a curriculum that enhances both competence and emotional resilience in pediatric EOL care.
“By examining the emotional, educational and practical challenges residents face in caring for dying children, this project aims to identify key barriers and opportunities for improving pediatric palliative care education,” explains Patel.
The Spark Award will support data analysis through services like NVivo based qualitative management and coding meetings, ensuring analytic rigor and timely completion. Funding will also enable collaboration with the Biobehavioral Core, which will assist with organizing and facilitating focus groups, audio recording and transcription and supporting qualitative data analysis.
Ultimately, this study will inform the creation of a targeted longitudinal curriculum that enhances trainee competence, confidence and emotional preparedness in delivering EOL care, improving not only trainee readiness but also the quality of care for terminally ill children and their families.
Thank you, Dr. Patel, for focusing your work on this critical aspect of pediatric care.
Julie Johnson, PharmD, is the Director and Principal Investigator at The Ohio State University Clinical and Translational Science Institute.