Pathways to Palliative Care

Dr. Jessica McFarlin: From Neurology to Palliative Care

Marcin Chwistek, MD FAAHPM

“Don’t pick. Do both! We need people who can do both” is what Jessica McFarlin, MD, heard from her friends and mentors near the end of her neurology residency at Duke University. She was considering adding a palliative care fellowship to her upcoming 2-year neuro-ICU fellowship and thought she would need to choose only one path. Fortunately, she has found a way to weave both together and, in the process, has discovered many ways in which such fusion not only has been incredibly helpful when taking care of patients and but also has been exciting to her as a physician.