Perspectives About Breaking Bad News Among Medical Students of Qom University of Medical Sciences

Undoubtedly, breaking bad news is one of the most difficult duties of a doctor. Not having this skill and not paying attention to its details can result in poor patient satisfaction, psychological morbidity, and weak clinical decisions. The present study was conducted to investigate the medical students’ perspectives about delivering bad news to patients.

A cross-sectional study was conducted using a questionnaire for all medical students of Qom University of Medical Sciences, Iran. A total of 269 out of 310 students responded to this survey (86.8% response rate). The questionnaire was designed and validated by ten medical ethics experts.

In this study, 54.4% of students believed that delivering bad news to patients depends on the patient’s compliance and condition and 55.8% of the participants believed that patients’ families should be the first recipient of the bad news. In addition, 54.3% believed that physicians should deliver the bad news. A total of 78.8% of the participants believed that breaking bad news should be accompanied by empathy and hope Also, 47.6% of students said that they did not receive training about breaking bad news.

Breaking bad news is a balancing act that requires doctors to constantly adapt to different factors. Although most medical students were keen to help their patients, they lacked the essential knowledge and skills for breaking bad news. Development of strategies and guidelines is needed to improve societal views, and train physicians about breaking bad news.