Support for Hospice and Palliative Medicine Fellowship Programs
The rising awareness of and demand for clinical palliative care resources has led to rapid growth in the number of patients receiving nonhospice and hospice palliative care in the United States. Although the number of palliative care programs has grown dramatically over the past decade, the physician workforce needed to provide appropriate palliative care, mentor and teach the next generation of physicians in the core precepts of palliative medicine, and develop the knowledge base required to provide the best quality care for patients and their families is inadequate.
In addition, because hospice and palliative medicine was officially recognized as a subspecialty by the American Board of Medical Specialties and American Osteopathic Association, physicians interested in becoming certified in hospice and palliative medicine must first complete a 12-month fellowship.
AAHPM aims to meet this workforce shortage head on by providing support and resources for fellowship programs in a number of ways.
AAHPM Virtual Interview Statement - Fellowship Positions
The Alliance for Academic Internal Medicine (AAIM) has “strongly recommended that fellowship programs conduct virtual interviews for all applicants, to include learners at their own institution.” In addition, AAIM “strongly recommends against open houses or in-person single/group visits to reduce bias and maintain safety of trainees of communities.”
The American Academy of Hospice and Palliative Medicine (AAHPM) supports these recommendations from the AAIM as conducting virtual interviews this year will best support the health and wellness of applicants and program faculty while also promoting an equitable recruitment process. As with last year’s process, AAHPM advises “all-in” virtual recruitment for both external and internal applicants. To learn more about the survey and current plans, visit the Fellowship Directors Community on AAHPM Connect.
HPM Fellowship Program Director's Guide
There are many steps to building and running a hospice and palliative medicine fellowship. The HPM Fellowship Program Director's Guide reviews the main phases in creating a program, including making the case, finding funding, and obtaining Accreditation Council for Graduate Medical Education (ACGME) accreditation.
This guide also includes specifics for running a fellowship, including Match participation, onboarding fellows, evaluation, and educational resources.
HPM Fellowship and Hospice Program Partnerships Guide
HPM fellowship programs have an opportunity to build a robust hospice training experience by partnering with local hospice programs. This guide includes information for hospice programs seeking HPM fellowship collaborations, HPM fellowships seeking to develop hospice educational partnerships, and an extensive toolkit.
Competency-Based Medical Education Tools
- HPM Curricular Milestones: detailed teaching elements of fellowship training programs. Although not required by ACGME, curricular milestones are offered as a means to provide curricular structure and guidance to educators.
- HPM Entrustable Professional Activities: developed to support HPM fellowship programs in their training of fellows with a focus on practical training outcomes as emphasized by ACGME.
- HPM Reporting Milestones (effective July 1, 2019): provides a reporting structure for fellowship programs to describe the progress of individual fellows to the ACGME.
- Supplemental Guide: Hospice and Palliative Medicine: provides additional guidance and examples for the HPM Milestones. As the program develops a shared mental model of the Milestones, consider creating an individualized guide (Supplemental Guide Template available).
AAHPM members can view CBME education videos below, which discuss the background and application of these tools to enhance your fellows' education and evaluation. Presenters elucidate the EPAs, CMs, and RMs.
Hospice and Palliative Medicine Fellowship Program Resources
- National Resident Match Program (NRMP): this Medical Specialties Matching Program facilitates and streamlines the process of fellowship/fellow selection for both programs and applicants.
- HPM Competencies project: grew out of the need to define competencies and measurable outcomes for the field in line with ACGME competencies and develop an assessment toolkit to provide a guide for fellow evaluation.
- Pediatric Objectives for Adult-Track Hospice and Palliative Medicine Fellows: provides guidance for fellowship programs working to develop their pediatric curriculum de novo or when updating an existing curriculum.
- HPM Fellowship Funding Guide: Practical tips to find alternative sources of funding for your fellowship program
- Primary Board Contact Sheet: use for each fellow upon graduation to provide verification of training for board certification applicants.
Looking to promote your fellowship program? Following Match Day, post a complimentary fellowship opening on the AAHPM Job Mart to ensure the maximum number of fellowship slots are filled each year.
Seeking a Fellowship Position
Physicians interested in pursuing a fellowship in hospice and palliative medicine can learn more about fellowship training and access directories of accredited fellowship programs in the Career Development section of aahpm.org.