The goals of the fellowship program are to insure excellent education in palliative medicine for interested physicians and to help create leaders in this field for the future. Extensive in-depth clinical experience primarily with patients with advanced cancer is offered. Increasing exposure to other diseases appropriate to palliative medicine is also available. Fellowship appointments are for one year with an opportunity to renew. Two years is recommended for all applicants without extensive prior practice experience.
Applying for Hospice and Palliative Medicine Fellowship
Applicants must be in the process of completing an ACGME or AOA-accredited residency program in Anesthesiology, Emergency Medicine, Family Medicine, Internal Medicine, Neurology, Obstetrics and Gynecology, Pediatrics, Physical Medicine and Rehab, Psychiatry, Radiation Oncology, or Surgery to be eligible to apply for fellowship training in Hospice and Palliative Medicine.
Applicants interested in beginning training during the July 2010 academic year:
Applicants interested in applying for training to begin July 1, 2010 (ONLY) will be required to complete a Cleveland Clinic hardcopy application available through the Graduate Medical Education website (http://www.clevelandclinic.org/education/gme/pdffiles/application.pdf) and must include all documents listed below. After a prompt review of submitted information, selected candidates will be offered interviews. These will be scheduled in groups of up to five candidates, dates to be determined.
Application Materials:
- Personal Statement
- Previous Training Certificate
- Three Letters of Reference
- Curriculum Vitae
- Medical School Diploma
- USMLE Scores
- ECFMG
Applicants interested in beginning training during the July 2011 academic year:
NOTICE: With the successful ACGME accreditation of the Hospice and Palliative Medicine Fellowship Program in 2009, the application process for fellowship trainees interested in beginning training for July 2011 and thereafter will be conducted through ERAS©. Applications will be accepted from August 1st through December 31st each year for positions beginning July 1st of the next academic year (2 years later).
The Hospice and Palliative Medicine Fellowship Program does NOT participate in the NRMP main match and will therefore select of offer positions to candidates on a rolling interview cycle. Once all positions have been filled, we will no longer interview additional candidates.
Application Contact Information
We encourage applicants to contact the Fellowship Coordinator regarding inquiries into our program:
Lynn Mulgrew
Program Coordinator
Cleveland Clinic
Taussig Cancer Institute
Hematology/Medical Oncology
9500 Euclid Avenue (R35)
Cleveland, OH 44195
Phone: 216.445.0624
Fax: 216.444.9464
Benefits
The Cleveland Clinic is an equal opportunity employer. In addition, international medical graduates must hold a valid ECFMG certificate and meet visa requirements to pursue graduate medical education within the United States and Cleveland Clinic.
Structure
The program consists of three services through which each fellow will rotate in four-week blocks. Attendings rotate by calendar month to insure continuity of care
Inpatient Service
The 23-bed Harry R. Horvitz Center provides inpatient services for acute intensive palliative care for those with cancer and other diseases such as AIDS and ALS. Annual admissions average 700 patients. While on service the fellow is responsible for the day-to-day care of the patients in collaboration with three physician assistants. Rounds with the PA, fellow and attending are seven days a week.
Consult Service
Consults are seen in both the inpatient and outpatient setting. Approximately 30% of consults are from the department of Hematology/Oncology, 30% from Radiation therapy and the remainder from other departments throughout the Foundation. The Consult service is staffed by the fellow, a specialty nurse and an attending. Consults are typically seen the same day. Average annual consults are 900.
Hospice Home Care Service
The Palliative Care program includes a Medicare certified palliative home care program and Hospice of the Cleveland Clinic. While on service the fellow will attend interdisciplinary team meetings as well as participate in home visits. The daily census averages 90-100 patients.
Education
The curriculum focuses on skills and knowledge needed for a specialist in palliative medicine including but not limited to palliative medicine philosophy, ethics, communication skills, symptom control and assessment, decision making, pharmacology, interdisciplinary cooperation, regulatory and cost issues. Depending on the background of the individual applicant additional education is available in specific diseases (i.e. Oncology). Teaching is both didactic and informal. Fellows are expected to prepare educational conferences regularly based on case experiences and journal review. There is one four-week elective period per year.
Research
Research has a high priority in the Palliative Medicine program. Fellows will be expected to complete a small research project suitable for publication before completion of the program. While efforts are made to choose projects to meet the clinical interest of a given fellow they must of necessity fall within the overall research objectives of the program. Fellows will work with one of the attending physicians to achieve this goal. The program conducts active research in pain control, nutrition, common symptom complexes, psychosocial aspects, and health care delivery issues in palliative medicine.
Conferences
Palliative Medicine conducts many different educational conferences in a given week. For additional information please see the weekly schedule enclosed. In addition there is an annual major educational conference offered each year in March.
Vacation/Call
Fellows are on call from home when they are on the Inpatient Service. They are allowed three days educational leave and fifteen vacation days. Neither educational nor vacation time may be taken during the inpatient service rotation to avoid disruption of patient care.
