Fellowship Overview
This fellowship, offered under the auspices of the Division of General Medicine at the Stanford University School of Medicine, is designed to train board certified/board eligible internists or family medicine physicians in the knowledge and skills necessary for a career in palliative medicine. Trained fellows should possess the necessary knowledge, attitudes, skills and experience to become certified by the American Board of Hospice and Palliative Medicine. Development of teaching skills is central to the curriculum and should enable trained fellows to take on a leadership role in disseminating the principles and practices of the discipline. Given that many matriculating fellows will also participate in the development of new palliative care programs, considerable attention will be devoted to acquiring elated knowledge and skills in program development. The program emphasizes a scholarly approach to palliative care. Fellows are expected to read widely in this area and to attend local and national conferences. All fellows are expected to do one academic/scholarly project during the year. Projects may involve participation in research, collaboration in paper writing, education, or program development. This physician fellowship is offered as part of a national Veterans Affairs palliative care program, entitled the Interprofessional Palliative Care Fellowship Program under the auspices of the Office of Academic Affiliations. This national program has training sites at six VA facilities across the country and sponsors fellowships in a number of disciplines involved in palliative care, including Nursing, Social Work, Chaplaincy, Pharmacy and Psychology. Our facility is the hub-site for this national program. Dr. Hallenbeck serves as the hub-site director.
The fellowship is one of the first in the United States to undergo successful voluntary accreditation by the American Board of Hospice and Palliative Medicine (ABHPM). Our program and related curriculum are designed to be in compliance with accreditation guidelines developed by the ABHPM. Key components stressed by the accrediting board are:
- Exposure to hospice and palliative care patients in a variety of venues - inpatient, consultation, outpatient and home care
- Continuity of care - both across venues and over time
- A minimum of 25 home care patients over the one year of training
- An organized curriculum
