Hospice volunteer training for health science students: an academic medical center-hospice community partnership.

Within the academic medical center providing interdisciplinary, experiential, longitudinal, and mentored learning experiences for students regarding hospice/end-of-life care is a considerable challenge. This article describes an innovative course for medical, nursing, and social work students taught as a partnership among the departments of family medicine, medical history/ethics and three community hospice programs. The goals of the course are: (1) understanding the hospice philosophy of care; (2) understanding that hospice care is an interdisciplinary team process; and (3) development of the caregiver skills of self-reflection as a form of self-knowledge while participating in the care of terminally ill patients. Achieving these goals is challenging for students (especially medical students) and faculty but highly rewarding. The development, implementation and evolution over the past 3 years of this hospice volunteer training course are discussed.