About the Initiative
The Wayne State University (WSU) End-of-Life Interdisciplinary graduate course was initiated in 2001 in response to an identified need to address EOL education issues in the WSU community.  The course was developed by the grassroots group WSU End-of-Life Interdisciplinary Project with a long-term goal of improving EOL care in the Metropolitan Detroit area via education and collaboration between academics and service providers. 
 
This course is the product of an ongoing collaboration of academics and service providers representing 16 units of WSU and a dozen care provider organizations serving the WSU community.  Begun as the WSU Interdisciplinary End-of-Life Project, the collaboration has now become a vital part of the WSU Center to Advance Palliative-Care Excellence (CAPEWAYNE) and has produced a number of products, including the graduate course and a book (Gelfand, et al 2005).
 
WSU's interdisciplinary course on EOL issues, and CAPEWAYNE supports the MCC's End-of-Life Care priority:  By 2010, prevent and reduce avoidable suffering up to and during the last phase of life for persons with cancer.

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Impetus for the Collaboration
The course was formed as a way of the WSU community beginning 'at home' on its own campus a broad-based discussion of the complex and diverse issues faced at the end of life.

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Results
This successful graduate (and upper division) course on EOL issues is cross-listed by five university departments and programs and is fully enrolled each time it is offered.  Student evaluations of teaching for the course and other forms of feedback suggest that this course has been a life-altering experience for many students and a growth-producing experience for most.

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Lessons Learned
Working with a truly interdisciplinary team is a process that requires exceptional effort and ongoing attention to both task and interpersonal aspects of group work. Having concrete outcomes — such as the development of this course — can help cement relationships and maintain ongoing enthusiasm among group members. Melding diverse approaches to content pedagogy and priorities creates challenges, but also allows for tremendous growth within the group.

Collaborating Partners

• WSU End-of-Life Interdisciplinary Project
• WSU Center to Advance Palliative-Care Excellence
• WSU Departments of Anthropology and Sociology; Library and Information Science Program; Interdisciplinary Studies Program; College of Nursing; College of Medicine
• Hospice of Michigan
• several other area academic and service programs  

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MCC Recognition
The Wayne Sate University End-of-Life Interdisciplinary Course received the Michigan Cancer Consortium’s 2006 Spirit of Collaboration Honorable Mention Award.  The annual award is presented to member organizations that have done outstanding collaborative work to significantly move comprehensive cancer control activities forward in Michigan.

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Learn More
For more information about this project, please contact: Stephanie Myers Schim, PhD, RN, Wayne State University Center to Advance Palliative-Care Excellence, at s.schim@wayne.edu.

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Other End-of-Life/Pain Management Educational Opportunities

• Medscape CME/CE Activity for Medical Professionals: "The Last Hours of Living: Practical Advice for Clinicians" (valid for credit through Aug. 28, 2007)
  www.medscape.com/viewprogram/5808
  This activity is intended for physicians, physician assistants, nurse practitioners, nurses, students, and other clinicians who care for patients during their last hours of life. The goal of this activity is to provide a comprehensive overview of the last hours of life, focusing on the assessment and management of common physical symptoms and syndromes near the time of death. Upon completion of this activity, participants will be able to: 
  • assist families to prepare for the last hours of life;
  • assess and manage the pathophysiologic changes of dying; and
  • pronounce a death and notify the family.

  Physicians who complete the course will be eligible for a maximum of 1.75 AMA PRA Category 1 Credit(s); nurses will be eligible for 2.1 nursing contact hours (0.3 of them in pharmacology). All other healthcare professionals completing continuing education credit for this activity will be issued a certificate of participation. Physicians should only claim credit commensurate with the extent of their participation in the activity.

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• Medscape CME/CE Activity for Medical Professionals: "Principles of Effective Pain Management at the End of Life" (valid for credit through Oct. 4, 2007)
  www.medscape.com/viewprogram/6079
  This activity is intended for physicians, advanced practice and registered nurses, pharmacists, physician assistants, social workers, and other healthcare professionals who care for patients with far-advanced illness. The goal of this activity is to provide readers with a current and comprehensive overview of pain management at the end of life, offering guidance and detailed resources to practicing clinicians. Upon completion of this activity, participants will be able to:

• describe the prevalence and significance of pain at the end of life;
• identify techniques to assess pain in patients, including those unable to provide verbal reports;
• list differential features of nociceptive and neuropathic pain states;
• describe effective nonpharmacological means to relieve pain; and
• recognize the therapeutic benefits and potential adverse effects associated with opioid and nonopioid pharmacotherapy for acute and chronic pain states at end of life.

Physicians who complete the course will be eligible for a maximum of 2.0 AMA PRA Category 1 Credit(s); nurses will be eligible for 2.4 nursing contact hours (none of these credits is in the area of pharmacology). All other healthcare professionals completing continuing education credit for this activity will be issued a certificate of participation. Physicians should only claim credit commensurate with the extent of their participation in the activity.

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last updated: 12/21/06

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