Death education in U.S. professional colleges: medical, nursing, and pharmacy.

Physicians, nurses, and pharmacists often practice in death environments. A questionnaire was mailed to 126 medical schools, 396 baccalaureate nursing schools and 72 pharmacy colleges to determine the extent of death education offerings in their curricula. A response rate of better than 80 percent was received. The majority of professional programs had some emphasis on thanatology which was initiated within the past decade.