Subspecialty Careers: Hospice and Palliative Medicine
The Discipline
Palliative medicine aims to relieve symptoms and pain a patient
suffers due to a serious illness. Goals of palliative care include
reducing suffering, improving the quality of life for a patient,
and supporting the patient and family throughout the treatment
process.
Hospice care is provided for patients facing a terminal diagnosis who no longer wish to undergo curative treatment. Goals of hospice care include relieving symptoms and supporting patients in the end-of-life stages.
Training
Hospice and Palliative Medicine fellowship training requires an
additional year of accredited training beyond general internal
medicine residency in a Hospice and Palliative Medicine fellowship
training program.
Training Positions
For the 2010-2011 academic year, there were 105 ACGME-accredited
training programs in Hospice and Palliative Medicine with 290
active positions. Thirty-two percent of the trainees are female and
64% are U.S. medical graduates.
Certification
The American Board of Medical Specialties approved the creation of
Hospice and Palliative Medicine (HPM) as a sub-specialty of ten
participating boards in September 2006. The American Board of
Internal Medicine is one of these boards. The first certification
exam was held in October 2008, and is offered every other year.
Major Professional Societies
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American Academy of Hospice and Palliative Medicine
4700 W. Lake Ave.
Glenview, IL 60025
Phone: 847-375-4712
Fax: 847-375-6475
Major Publications