UMass Chan Hospice and Palliative Medicine Fellowship

Hello! Welcome to the Hospice and Palliative Medicine Fellowship at the UMass Chan School of Medicine!

My name is Sunita Puri, and I am the Program Director of our one-year, ACGME-accredited fellowship program. Our program launched in 2020, and I am happy to share that we have expanded and, beginning in 2023, we will be recruiting for two fellowship positions. We consider palliative care to be not only a practice that models a compassionate, evidence-based, and interdisciplinary approach to seeing and alleviating patients’ suffering, but also a field that is transforming attitudes about having conversations about serious illness within medicine and society at large.

UMass is a level 1 trauma center, and our fellowship is the only training program in Massachusetts based at a safety net institution. We are deeply committed to equity and inclusivity, and to caring and advocating for historically marginalized and underserved communities throughout Massachusetts by paying close attention to social determinants of health. Our interdisciplinary faculty includes physicians, advanced practice providers, social workers, music therapists, bioethicists, writers, and behavioral health specialists. We have a strong record of accomplishment in quality improvement projects, program development, medical humanities, innovations in medical education, and statewide advocacy for improved palliative care education in medical schools.

Fellows benefit from individualized attention and mentorship, and we customize parts of the curriculum based on your interests and career goals. Our goal is to provide you with a rigorous education focused on furthering your clinical, teaching, and leadership skills while helping you to define your unique path in our profession.

We also offer fellows unique opportunities that reflect our core values. Fellows can participate in a community-based project to improve local understanding of and access to hospice and palliative care, and join the Diversity Action Council to promote attention to issues of equity and inclusion within our institution and in the delivery of patient care. We actively promote wellness and resilience on our team, and fellows have the opportunity to meet with a health psychologist for added support during training. Fellows receive quality improvement training and develop their pedagogy through participation in the medical school’s nationally acclaimed programs Teachers of Tomorrow and Crucial Conversations.

I am thrilled that you are considering a career in hospice and palliative medicine. I wish you the very best in your endeavors, and hope that you will consider joining us in Worcester! 

Please feel free to reach out to me if you have any questions about our program or application process. 

Warmly, 

 
Sunita Puri, M.D.
Program Director, Hospice and Palliative Medicine Fellowship
Sunita.puri@umassmemorial.org