Need for hospice and palliative medicine will only continue to grow as population demographics shift. A skilled family physician should understand the basic principles of hospice and palliative medicine. I’m proud to say that we do a great job at AFP.
Curriculum Overview
Our program starts with a strong didactic curriculum. Within the first couple of months, you’ll get lectures on goals of care, family meetings, and decision-making capacity. These skills can be honed on the inpatient medicine service where you will learn from the palliative cases you encounter there. During the second year, you will have a dedicated geriatric rotation where you spend time on our busy palliative medicine consult service that sees over 1,000 consults per year. During that rotation, you will also see our outpatient palliative clinic, local nursing facilities, and, if you’re interested, several outpatient hospice agencies.
Special Programs
Residents that are particularly interested in hospice and palliative medicine can make an individualized curriculum concentration (ICC). For those extremely interested, there is the opportunity to apply to our hospice and palliative medicine fellowship after graduation. Embracing the principles of hospice and palliative medicine is a valued strength of Altoona Family Physicians. We invite you to share our passion for comprehensive patient care during your residency at UPMC Altoona.