In addition to clinical training, there are numerous conferences and didactic activities for Hospice and Palliative Medicine (HPM) fellows.
The Fellowship’s Didactics curriculum includes:
- Core topic didactics: Just as the name implies these are core topics in Hospice and Palliative Medicine covered in the ACGME Hospice and Palliative Medicine Curricular Milestones. These lectures cover a wide range of topics, including (but not limited to) symptom management; disease-specific palliative care delivery models; effective communication and conflict management; and psychosocial/grief support.
- Case Discussions/Journal Club: Fellows will prepare and summarize two HPM-relevant journal articles of personal interest based on cases they were personally involved in. Fellows then present the cases and article to their fellowship class and HPM faculty/staff and lead the discussion.
- Communication Training: Throughout the year, HPM fellows will engage in a variety of training activities aimed at improving the communication skills related to goals of care and advance care planning discussions. Adapted from the Vital Talk curriculum, this interdisciplinary approach to emotional communication skills provides HPM fellows with practical tips and techniques which can be utilized across clinical settings when addressing goals of care for patients with a serious disease.
- Facilitated Peer-Networking Sessions: Once a month our fellows participate in a guided peer-support session, to allow for reflection and debriefing on the clinical work being done and support one another during their fellowship training.
- Quality Improvement Curriculum: Under the guidance of Dr. Laura Taylor and other core faculty, HPM fellows will participate in a longitudinal QI-curriculum that consists of quarterly lectures and meetings to design and implement a QI project aimed at alleviating or resolving a identified QI-related patient issue.
- Southeast Michigan (SEMI) HPM Fellowship Seminary: UM’s HPM Fellows gather quarterly with HPM Fellows from other training programs in southeast Michigan to learn about advanced topics in palliative medicine and engage in discussion on palliative care delivery models in different health care environments.
Fellows also have the opportunity to attend regional palliative care conferences as available. Furthermore, learners are provided with a stipend to attend the annual assembly of the American Academy of Hospice and Palliative Medicine (AAHPM).
Additional Monthly Research Seminars are also available for those interested.
