Mission Statement
Our mission is to train compassionate, skilled, thoughtful physicians who provide excellent, patient-centered palliative and hospice care and grow into leaders who advance the field.
Program Aims
- Develop clinical excellence in palliative and hospice medicine
- Cultivate compassionate, patient-centered physicians who communicate with clarity and empathy
- Strengthen interdisciplinary collaboration and team-based care
- Foster lifelong learning, teaching, and scholarship
- Develop confident physician leaders who advocate for patients and advance the field of HPM
Goals and Objectives
Palliative and hospice care is devoted to achieving the best possible quality of life for patients and their families facing a life-threatening or terminal illness, through relief of symptoms and aggressive management of other sources of suffering. The interdisciplinary care addresses physical, psychological, social and spiritual needs.
The major domains of knowledge covered by palliative medicine training are:
- The hospice and palliative approach to care
- Death and dying
- Psychosocial and spiritual support, including bereavement support for the family
- Assessment and management of pain and non-pain symptoms and suffering
- Communication and teamwork
- Ethical and legal decision-making
- Quality improvement and research methodology in populations with advanced illness
Fellows receive training in inpatient, community, and ambulatory settings. Our fellows are exposed to patients with a variety of medical conditions and socioeconomic and cultural backgrounds.
The fellowship includes a didactic component focused on the pharmacologic and medical management of chronic illnesses, the psychosocial and spiritual aspects in caring for patients with chronic illnesses and at their time of death, bereavement and regulatory issues related to the hospice benefit. Other experiences through our simulation lab will enhance communication skills and team building.
Research and Quality-Improvement Program
The fellow will complete a quality-improvement project as well as an independent research project in some aspect of clinical care or education related to hospice and palliative care.