Hospice & Palliative Care Medicine Fellowship

Comprehensive training in caring for patients with life-limiting illnesses.

The fellowship is based in the Department of Medicine at MetroHealth Medical Center and Case Western Reserve University.

The MetroHealth system includes an academic medical center affiliated with Case Western Reserve University and provides tertiary through primary care to patients from a wide range of socioeconomic backgrounds. Our fellowship in hospice and palliative care medicine is conducted in collaboration with the Hospice of the Western Reserve, one of the largest and oldest hospices in Ohio.

The primary faculty have many years of experience in teaching and in providing both hospice and palliative care. Fellows have the opportunity to gain broad experience, including inpatient and outpatient palliative care as well as hospice care. Inpatient consultations involve patients on med/surg units, critical care environments (medical, cardiac, surgical, traumaneuro, burn), and a level 1 trauma center. Fellows in the program will have a half-day longitudinal outpatient clinic weekly throughout the fellowship.

In addition, fellows are trained at two state-of-the art inpatient hospice units of Hospice of the Western Reserve. Fellows will work with hospice teams in the inpatient units and in-home hospice care. As part of their hospice experience, fellows will also work with the pediatric team.

Hospice of the Western Reserve (HWR) is also one of the largest non-profit hospices in the country. HWR, one of the first hospices in Ohio to be state certified, and its' Hospice/Research Institute has provided education and programming to healthcare professionals and the public for over twenty years. HWR delivers home hospice to adult and pediatric patients in addition to their three-residential/inpatient hospice facilities.

These settings provide an environment rich in clinical experience, learning resources and motivating interactions. Fellows spend several months embedded with each organization.

Faculty across both organizations are experienced in providing palliative and hospice care as well as developing and implementing training programs. All faculty are involved in this program because they are committed to teaching, enhancing care for patients and families in need of palliative care services, and to supporting our colleagues as they work to provide the best possible care.

Aims

  • Provide excellent training that adopts best practice models and that focuses on teaching the fellows self-evaluation and life-long learning techniques
  • Train our fellows to provide exceptional care and be leaders in hospice and palliative care while modeling emotional health and well-being
  • Address the needs of underserved populations for palliative care and understand the contribution hospice and palliative care can make to population health by integrating  quality improvement activities
  • Provide systematic integration processes to incorporate multidiscipline operations between MetroHealth Medical Center departments, Hospice of the Western Reserve,  and neighboring institutions