While all doctors in clinical practice encounter situations entailing bad news Doctors Association Kashmir (DAK) Monday said that medical education in JK offers no formal training for this daunting task.
Terming it as an essential skill President DAK Dr Nisar ul Hassan in a statement said that doctors are not taught the art of breaking bad news to patients and their families.
“Bad news could be revealing cancer to a patient or disclosing the death of a loved one to a family,” Dr Nisar said.
Discussing tragic news with families will not only impact them in a short term but for many years to come, he said.
“The process of breaking bad news is neither taught in medical schools nor during residency, Dr Nisar said adding “Physicians learn it by watching their seniors that certainly is not adequate for something which is so important”.
Breaking bad news is the most difficult duty of a physician, he said adding telling someone that their loved one, who has just diarrhea, has cancer is the most uncomfortable situation for a doctor.
Dr Nisar said that while breaking bad news is now a core part of the medical curriculum, in JK no attention is given to this area.