Palliative Care Exposure in Internal Medicine Residency Education: A Survey of ACGME Internal Medicine Program Directors

2017 ◽  
Vol 35 (1) ◽  
pp. 41-44 ◽  
Author(s):  
Asher Edwards ◽  
Samuel Nam

As the baby boomer generation ages, the need for palliative care services will be paramount and yet training for palliative care physicians is currently inadequate to meet the current palliative care needs. Nonspecialty-trained physicians will need to supplement the gap between supply and demand. Yet, no uniform guidelines exist for the training of internal medicine residents in palliative care. To our knowledge, no systematic study has been performed to evaluate how internal medicine residencies currently integrate palliative care into their training. In this study, we surveyed 338 Accreditation Council for Graduate Medical Education–accredited internal medicine program directors. We queried how palliative care was integrated into their training programs. The vast majority of respondents felt that palliative care training was “very important” (87.5%) and 75.9% of respondents offered some kind of palliative care rotation, often with a multidisciplinary approach. Moving forward, we are hopeful that the data provided from our survey will act as a launching point for more formal investigations into palliative care education for internal medicine residents. Concurrently, policy makers should aid in palliative care instruction by formalizing required palliative care training for internal medicine residents.

2011 ◽  
Vol 26 (3) ◽  
pp. 436-443 ◽  
Author(s):  
Douglas D. Ross ◽  
Deborah W. Shpritz ◽  
Susan D. Wolfsthal ◽  
Ann B. Zimrin ◽  
Timothy J. Keay ◽  
...  

Author(s):  
Richard A. Taylor ◽  
J. Nicholas Dionne-Odom ◽  
Erin R. Currie ◽  
Macy Stockdill ◽  
Marie A. Bakitas

Access to palliative care remains challenging to those living in rural areas across the globe. This disparity of care leaves many without critically important palliative care services across their illness trajectory, especially in its final stages. Creative strategies to meet the palliative care needs of rural patients such as telehealth, videoconferencing specialists’ consultation, and web-based resources exist. Using these strategies where available can address some palliative care disparities and access to care in rural areas that were previously absent. Developing clinical capacity of rural clinicians through enhanced education in primary palliative care in training programs, expanding services with the use of nurse practitioners, and using palliative care–trained community lay health workers are also strategies to improve access. Additionally, by developing rural hospital providers’ knowledge and skills to provide primary palliative care in tasks such as establishing care goals, communication, and basic symptom control may prevent many transfers to academic centers miles away. Through ongoing education and primary palliative care training and innovations in bringing specialty care to rural areas, “palliative care everywhere” will soon be a reality.


2004 ◽  
Vol 19 (2) ◽  
pp. 81-87 ◽  
Author(s):  
Douglas Ross ◽  
Deborah Shpritz ◽  
Carla Alexander ◽  
Kennita Carter ◽  
Martin Edelman ◽  
...  

2020 ◽  
Vol 4 (Supplement_1) ◽  
pp. 788-788
Author(s):  
Daniel David ◽  
Abraham Brody ◽  
Tina Sadarangani ◽  
Bei Wu ◽  
Tara Cortez

Abstract Many residents of Assisted Living (AL) confront serious illness and therefore might benefit from greater access to Palliative Care Services to improve quality of life. We surveyed resident records and AL nursing staff to identify patients in need of Palliative Care. Preliminary findings showed that nurses predicted 23% would not be alive and 49% would no longer live in AL. A majority of residents were over the age of 90, yet 30% did not have a reported code status. These findings suggest that a substantial portion of AL residents may have unmet needs with respect to palliative care. Future interventions are needed to support advance care planning conversations and make palliative care more accessible to this population.


2021 ◽  
pp. 026921632110073
Author(s):  
Christine Lau ◽  
Christopher Meaney ◽  
Matthew Morgan ◽  
Rose Cook ◽  
Camilla Zimmermann ◽  
...  

Background: To date, little is known about the characteristics of patients who are admitted to a palliative care bed for end-of-life care. Previous data suggest that there are disparities in access to palliative care services based on age, sex, diagnosis, and socioeconomic status, but it is unclear whether these differences impact access to a palliative care bed. Aim: To better identify patient factors associated with the likelihood/rate of admission to a palliative care bed. Design: A retrospective chart review of all initiated palliative care bed applications through an electronic referral program was conducted over a 24-month period. Setting/participants: Patients who apply and are admitted to a palliative care bed in a Canadian metropolitan city. Results: A total of 2743 patients made a total of 5202 bed applications to 9 hospice/palliative care units in 2015–2016. Referred and admitted cancer patients were younger, male, and more functional than compared to non-cancer patients (all p < 0.001). Referred and admitted patients without cancer were more advanced in their illness trajectory, with an anticipated prognosis <1 month and Palliative Performance Status of 10%–20% (all p < 0.001). On multivariate analysis, a diagnosis of cancer and a prognosis of <3 months were associated with increased likelihood and/or rate of admission to a bed, whereas the presence of care needs, a longer prognosis and a PPS of 30%–40% were associated with decreased rates and/or likelihood of admission. Conclusion: Patients without cancer have reduced access to palliative care facilities at end-of-life compared to patients with cancer; at the time of their application and admission, they are “sicker” with very low performance status and poorer prognoses. Further studies investigating disease-specific clinical variables and support requirements may provide more insights into these observed disparities.


2015 ◽  
Vol 22 (S3) ◽  
pp. 1181-1186 ◽  
Author(s):  
Gregory Larrieux ◽  
Blake I. Wachi ◽  
John T. Miura ◽  
Kiran K. Turaga ◽  
Kathleen K. Christians ◽  
...  

2016 ◽  
Vol 12 (2) ◽  
pp. 149-150 ◽  
Author(s):  
Angelique Wong ◽  
Akhila Reddy ◽  
Janet L. Williams ◽  
Jimin Wu ◽  
Diane Liu ◽  
...  

QUESTION ASKED: What are graduate medical education trainees’ attitudes and beliefs regarding palliative care, what is their awareness of the availability and role of palliative care services, and does previous exposure to a palliative care rotation facilitate a better awareness of palliative care? SUMMARY ANSWER: A vast majority of oncology trainees perceived palliative care services to be beneficial for patient care (92%) and were supportive of mandatory palliative care training (74%). Surgical oncology trainees and trainees with no previous palliative care exposure were significantly less likely to consult palliative care and had significantly less awareness of palliative care. METHODS: We conducted an institutional review board–approved online survey to determine awareness of palliative care among graduate medical trainees at MD Anderson. One hundred seventy oncology trainees who completed at least 9 months of training in medical, surgical, gynecologic, and radiation oncology fellowship and residency program during the 2013 academic year completed an online questionnaire. Descriptive, univariate, and multivariate analyses were performed. BIAS, CONFOUNDING FACTOR(S), DRAWBACKS: Although there was a substantial response rate (78%), the results may not be generalizable as the survey was conducted at a single institution. Also, the frequency of palliative care referrals is self-reported. REAL-LIFE IMPLICATIONS: Our findings suggest that exposure to palliative care training may lead to increased awareness of palliative care among oncologists, and thus, increased overall and early referrals to palliative care. Surgical oncology trainees may benefit from increased exposure to palliative care rotations. More research is needed to characterize the impact of training on referral patterns to palliative care. In the meantime, efforts should be made to include formal palliative care rotations in oncology training. [Table: see text]


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