“It’s not that hospitalists can’t do palliative care. I did. I was so drawn to it and to trying to do it right, which meant I was trying to do 2 jobs at once,” she adds. Hospitalists can also participate by recognizing when their patients need the extra attention of a palliative care specialist. “Identifying who those patients are is a huge skill by itself.”
Resources for Getting Started in Palliative Care
The Center to Advance Palliative Care (CAPC) at Mount Sinai School of Medicine in New York City offers a comprehensive national resource for palliative care development in hospitals, including how to make the financial case. Its next national seminar is October 17 to 19 in San Diego, CA. CAPC also supports 6 regional Palliative Care Leadership Centers, including one with a hospitalist emphasis at the University of California-San Francisco, scheduled to run through June 2006. For more information on CAPC’s resources and leadership centers, call 202-201-2670 or visit www.capc.org.
Larry Beresford can be contacted at [email protected].
Other Helpful Resources
- For information on the Education in Palliative and End-of-Life Care (EPEC) curriculum, visit www.epec.net.
- The American Board of Hospice and Palliative Medicine will offer its next specialty certifying examination in November of 2005. For eligibility or other questions, call 301-439-8001 or visit www.abhpm.org.
- The American Association of Hospice and Palliative Medicine offers education and training resources, including an annual assembly scheduled for February 8 to 11, 2006, in Nashville, TN; visit www.aahpm.org.
- Harvard’s Center for Palliative Care offers a 2-week intensive training course, with an emphasis on teaching, in April and November every year. For information, call 617-724-9509, send email to [email protected], or visit www.hms.harvard.edu/cdi/pallcare/.
- The Veterans Administration also offers palliative care resources, fellowship opportunities and other information; visit www.hospice.va.gov.