Fellows in our ACGME-accredited Hospice and Palliative Medicine Fellowship program have the opportunity to work in a diverse array of settings throughout the year. This includes palliative care consultation services at quaternary and tertiary care hospitals affiliated with IUSM which serve a diverse population from the Indianapolis metropolitan area and throughout the State of Indiana. Fellows also have the opportunity to work with inpatient and outpatient hospice partners, including IU Health Hospice, Center for Hospice Care, and Brighton Hospice.
Fellows also participate in our comprehensive education sessions. This involves a mixture of weekly didactics, monthly evening sessions geared toward your personal development as a palliative care physician, and formative simulations.
Additionally, fellows will develop a scholarly/quality improvement project with the mentorship of one of IU School of Medicine's expert palliative care research mentors.
The learning environment at IU School of Medicine, the country's largest medical school, offers fellows the opportunity to participate electively in a rich and diverse series of educational programs. Fellows can also experience comprehensive global health education through an elective rotation at Moi Teaching and Referral Hospital in Eldoret, Kenya in partnership with AMPATH and IU School of Medicine Global Health.
We aim to meet each fellow’s individual goals when it comes to scholarly activity and quality improvement activities. Fellows who wish to have a more formal research experience can partner with IUSM Palliative Care researchers under the leadership of Amber Comer, JD, PhD who has mentored fellows on research projects over the years. Fellows also have the opportunity to present at regional and national conferences and participate in quality improvement activities.
Examples of research from our former fellows:
- Indiana Medical Resident's Knowledge of Surrogate Decision Making Laws
- Code Status Orders: Do the Options Matter?
- Code Statue orders in hospitalized patients with COVID-19
Each fellow completes a QI proposal with the opportunity to implement the proposal near the end of the year. We look for opportunities to merge the QI project with scholarly activity, when possible, to help with enhancing the meaning/impact of both project as well as to improve efficiency of project completion. Examples from previous fellowship classes include:
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Improving practices of the use of Urine Drug Toxicology in the fellow outpatient palliative care clinic.
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Modifying code status options in EPIC to improve clarity and consistency.
Being in a relaxed setting such as a faculty member’s home or local restaurant helps with community formation and enhances the learning environment for these sessions. Dinner is provided for fellows and faculty who attend. Throughout the year, we rotate between the following:
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Narrative medicine (two to three times per year): A faculty member from IU Indianapolis Medical Humanities program leads this session. These sessions involve a doable combination of reading and writing. This past year, we even did some brief play script writing and a reading!
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Journal club (three to four times per year): One to two fellows present an article of their choosing.
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Career Preparation Sessions (three times per year): These sessions include presenters and panels on a variety of topics, including how to find the right job in hospice and palliative medicine, job negotiation, and program/team leadership topics.
Indiana University School of Medicine Palliative Medicine has adopted the VitalTalk approach to teaching communication skills. Our curriculum involves a blend of simulation and clinical teaching opportunities to learn more about best communication practices and to give fellows the opportunity to reflect on the art and science of this practice.
Fellows participate in simulation sessions on campus in addition to attending Pallitalk with other fellows from throughout the Midwest and beyond. Topics of fellowship simulations in the past have included:
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Introducing palliative care to patients and families
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Conflict resolution
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Talking to patients about aberrant opioid use
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Responding to patient concerns about racial inequities in care