Hospice and Palliative Medicine

The Hospice and Palliative Medicine Fellowship was established at Philadelphia College of Osteopathic Medicine in 2014 to expand the workforce of physicians skilled in the care of seriously ill individuals, including assiduous symptom management, expert diagnostic ability, clear and compassionate communication and involvement of an interdisciplinary team of providers in treatment and management. The care of such patients incorporates the role of the family and caregivers as well as addressing the physical, psychosocial, emotional and existential needs of patients and their loved ones.

Through participation in clinical rotations, the palliative care fellow will:

• achieve a deeper understanding of access to care across settings that maximizes quality of life, and focuses on care delivery in the context of the patient’s home.
• improve assessment skills and documentation of functional status of patients over time.
• promote appropriate and sensitive communication strategies to address goals of care at various points in the disease process.
• verbalize uniqueness of person and respond appropriately to conflict between one’s own and patient/family preferences/beliefs.
• promote team wellness.
• evaluate evidence-based literature and explain its application in palliative care.
• demonstrate active collaboration with other members of the interdisciplinary team.
• identity the special role and expertise of each member of the interdisciplinary team.
• describe the role of the physician within the team.
• identify behaviors leading to cohesiveness or self-destruction within the interdisciplinary team.
• assess learning needs of team members and actively participate in weekly physician teaching.
• complete self-evaluation of learning needs and importance of regular self-assessment.
• contrast decision making capacity and legal competence.
• understand common non-verbal habits and their impact on patient/family communication and trust.
• recognize differences between hospice and nursing home policies and identify processes for creating cohesive patient plan of care.

• Fellows are required to participate and lead lectures in palliative care topics for various learners throughout their training.
• Fellows are required to identify, formulate and produce either:
  • a paper suitable for publication; or
  • a quality improvement project.

We participate in ERAS (Electronic Residency Application Service), and the Match is conducted through NRMP (National Resident Matching Program). Deadlines and additional information may be found on the NRMP website.

Prior to appointment in a program, fellows must have completed an American Osteopathic Association (AOA) or ACGME accredited program in family medicine, internal medicine,  physical medicine and rehabilitation or neurology; or at least three clinical years in an AOA or ACGME accredited graduate educational program in one of the following specialties: anesthesiology, emergency medicine, obstetrics and gynecology, psychiatry, radiation oncology, radiology or surgery.

Other information

All applicants for PCOM fellowship programs must be authorized to work in the United States.