school_lobbyDepartment of Medicine

Division of Palliative Medicine

Medical Education

POST-GRADUATE MEDICAL EDUCATION (FELLOWSHIP)

The Palliative Medicine Review Committee (PMRC) of the American Academy of Hospice and Palliative Medicine (AAHPM) is charged with the development of accreditation standards for fellowship in the new subspecialty of Palliative Medicine.  The committee has created voluntary program standards and core competencies for the field of Hospice and Palliative Medicine which are available for review at www.aahpm.org webjump under the Fellowship and Accreditation sections.  The major domains of knowledge and skills covered by palliative medicine training as outlined in these standards are:

  • Communication
  • Ethical & Legal Decision Making
  • Pain in Cancer and Non-Cancer patients
  • Medical Co-morbidities and Complications in Population with Life-threatening diseases
  • Neuro-psychiatric Co-morbidities in population s with Life-threatening diseases
  • Optimizing function as it pertains to quality of life
  • Psychosocial and Spiritual support
  • Death & Dying
  • Bereavement support for the family
  • Quality Improvement and Research Methodology in Populations with Advanced illness
  • The hospice and Palliative care approach to care
  • Interdisciplinary team work

While none of these skills or this knowledge is unique to the study of Palliative Medicine, the depth of knowledge and advanced expertise provided by fellowship training,  A list of the current accredited fellowship programs is also available at this website.