Graduate Medical Education (GME): National Institutes of Health Hospice and Palliative Medicine Fellowship

Fellowship Program Director: M. Jennifer Cheng, MD, Senior Attending Physician

Overview
This fellowship program is designed for candidates who have academic and clinical career goals in Hospice and Palliative Medicine. Fellows gain hospice and palliative medicine expertise as they provide consultations for medical, psychological, and spiritual concerns and coordinate team-based, holistic integrative approaches. Palliative care services are provided to adults and children in various settings, including inpatient units, outpatient clinics, and in day-hospital units. Trainees care for patients with common and rare diseases, and in both research and community settings. Candidates must have:

  • a MD or DO degree from an ACGME-accredited medical school
  • satisfactorily completed three postgraduate years of training at the time of appointment, completion of a residency program in child neurology, family medicine, internal medicine, pediatrics, physical medicine and rehabilitation, neurology, or radiation oncology; or, at least three clinical years in residency program in anesthesiology, emergency medicine, obstetrics and gynecology, psychiatry, radiology, or surgery.
  • unrestricted state medical licenses and the ability to be licensed in Maryland by the beginning of training.

Program Structure
This one-year fellowship program offers training that leads to board eligibility in Hospice and Palliative Medicine. Fellows receive broad, practical experience in palliative medicine and hospice care through the following: inpatient and outpatient palliative medicine rotations at the NIH Clinical Center (approximately half the academic year); inpatient palliative medicine rotations at Holy Cross Hospital, a community hospital, (12 weeks); rotations at Montgomery Hospice for home hospice and inpatient hospice (10 weeks); and a rotation at Hebrew Home for long-term-care (4 weeks). The fellowship also includes a four-week elective rotation. Additional program highlights:

  • Fellows are expected to demonstrate academic proficiency through literature review, a peer-review quality journal article, a book chapter, or other professional writing project.
  • Fellows are exposed to and learn about complementary therapies such as acupuncture, relaxation therapy, guided imagery, Reiki, and art therapy
  • The faculty are committed to trainees' growth as a Hospice and Palliative Medicine physicians. Fellows receive longitudinal psychosocial-spiritual learning, with opportunities to assess patients' and families' physical, psychosocial and spiritual needs as well as reflecting on their own experiences and personal growth. The interdisciplinary psychosocial spiritual curriculum includes: collaborations with spiritual care department, case-based psychotherapeutic supervision with social worker, communication workshop, an empathy simulation workshop, and other experiences.
  • Longitudinal educational and clinical collaboration with NIMH Psychiatry Consult Liaison Service
  • Fellows often see patients earlier in their disease course. Fellows may follow patients over months and even throughout their entire fellowship year. While at Holy Cross Hospital, fellows participate in and lead family meetings. The strengths of our various rotation sites provide our fellows with a well-rounded educational experience.

Application Information
This program participates in the ERAS system and all applications to this fellowship should be completed through ERAS. The completed application must include three letters of recommendation. The program also participates in the National Resident Match Program (NRMP). Additional information about the Hospice and Palliative Medicine Fellowship application cycle and deadlines can be obtained directly from the ERAS website.

Currently we do not sponsor J-1 Visa. Fellows receive a stipend based on the salary guidelines of the National Institutes of Health.

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This page last updated on 11/04/2022

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