BACKGROUND Existing studies have explored many aspects of medical students' experiences of patient death and propose the importance of faculty support for coping. However, UK-based literature on this subject and research concerning learning through reflection as part of coping are relatively limited. This study, through the lens of reflection, aims to explore students' experiences with patient death in a UK context. These include coping strategies, support from faculty following patient death and the relationship between these experiences and learning. Our research questions were: How do medical students cope with and learn from their experiences?How does support from ward staff and the medical school help them cope with and learn from these experiences?How can students best be supported following patient death? METHODS We employed narrative inquiry to explore how medical students made sense of their experiences of patient death. Twelve students participated in our study via an online narrative questionnaire. Thematic analysis and complementary narrative analysis of an exemplar were applied to address our research aim. RESULTS Coping strategies comprised internal and external strategies. Internal strategies included (1) re-interpretation of the death into a meaningful experience including lessons learned; (2) normalization; (3) staying busy and (4) enduring negative emotions. External strategies included speaking to someone, which was found to influence normalization, and lessons learned. Both satisfactory and unsatisfactory support from ward staff was identified. Satisfactory support was characterized by the inclusion of emotional and professional support. Unsatisfactory support was often characterized by a lack of emotional support. Narrative analysis further demonstrated how the experience with patient death was re-interpreted meaningfully. Students suggested that support should be structured, active, sensitive, and include peers and near-peers. CONCLUSION Many coping strategies, internal and external, were employed in students' experiences with patient death. Student reflections, enhanced by support from ward staff, were shown to be important for learning from patient death. We encourage faculty to have regular sessions in which medical students can reflect on the death incident and discuss appropriately with others, including peers and near-peers.

中文翻译：

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通过反思学习和应对：探索医学生的患者死亡经历。

背景技术现有研究已经探索了医学生对患者死亡的经历的许多方面，并提出了教师支持对于应对的重要性。然而，基于英国的有关该主题的文献以及有关通过反思作为应对方法之一的学习的研究相对有限。这项研究通过反思的角度，旨在探讨学生在英国情况下患者死亡的经历。其中包括应对策略，患者死亡后教师的支持以及这些经验与学习之间的关系。我们的研究问题是：医科学生如何应对和学习经验？病房工作人员和医学院的支持如何帮助他们应对和学习经验？患者死亡后如何最好地为学生提供支持？方法我们采用叙述性探究来探索医学生如何理解他们的患者死亡经历。十二名学生通过在线叙事问卷参加了我们的研究。示例的主题分析和补充叙事分析被用于解决我们的研究目标。结果应对策略包括内部和外部策略。内部策略包括：（1）将死亡重新解释为有意义的经验，包括经验教训；（2）规范化；（3）保持忙碌和（4）忍受负面情绪。外部策略包括与某人说话，这会影响正常化，以及从中汲取的教训。病房工作人员提供了令人满意和不令人满意的支持。令人满意的支持的特征是包括情感和专业支持。不能令人满意的支持通常以缺乏情感支持为特征。叙事分析进一步证明了如何有效地重新解释了患者死亡的经历。学生建议，支持应该结构化，积极，敏感，并包括同龄人和近等人。结论在学生死亡经历中，采用了许多内部和外部应对策略。病房工作人员的支持加强了学生的反思，这对于从患者死亡中学习至关重要。