SHBC1383

T.KOH¹, S.C CHIA¹, S.H YUNG¹, T.Y CHIA²

Tan Tock Seng Hospital¹, Dover Park Hospice²

Junior doctors are in the frontlines of dealing with emotionally challenging cases in palliative care. There is a lack of studies on the emotional impact on them and the usefulness of reflection tools. This is a study investigating firstly the emotional challenges of junior doctors and secondly if a movie is an effective reflective tool.

Junior doctors rotating through the palliative posting were invited to watch the movie Tuesdays with Morrie and subsequently participate in a focus group discussion led by an external facilitator in the third month of their posting. The discussion was audio-recorded and transcribed, and was analyzed by the research team using a thematic analysis approach.

Preliminary analysis has been carried out on the first 15 participants. The emotional challenges surfaced includes discomfort in talking about death, helplessness and emotional burnout. Secondly regarding the movie as a reflective tool, many felt that it helped them to reflect on their clinical practice and the themes of the movie relates to palliative care. Common themes discussed were grief, life priorities in the face of a life-limiting illness, care of the patient and family as a unit and the importance of a senior’s guidance.

Based on current preliminary findings, most doctors are able to relate and connect with the movie. We aim to present new findings upon completion of study.