Palliative Medicine

Amy Case, MD, and fellow Mehak Swami, MD.

“Our program provides fellows with the close mentorship, clinical expertise and research training they need for productive careers in palliative medicine,” says Amy A. Case, MD (left), who mentors fellow Mehak Swami, MD.

The fellowship in hospice and palliative medicine is ACGME accredited and can lead to Certification of Added Qualifications in Palliative Medicine as approved by the American Board of Medical Specialties.

To be considered for admission, candidates must have completed an ACGME-approved residency in one of the following specialties:

Anesthesiology
Emergency Medicine
Family Medicine
Internal Medicine
Neurology
Obstetrics and Gynecology
Pediatrics
Physical Medicine and Rehabilitation
Psychiatry
Radiation Oncology
Surgery

The yearlong fellowship rotations are as follows:

Four months will be spent at Roswell Park Comprehensive Cancer Center Palliative Care Service, under supervision of Program Director, Amy Case and other engaged faculty members in collaboration with the palliative care team. Roswell Park scored “Exceptional” by the National Cancer Institute, NCI in rankings and is part of the national consortium of Allied Designated Cancer Centers. There will opportunities for experience in challenging symptom management and communication skills. Fellows receive formalized Vital Talk training as part of their fellowship training.
Three months will be spent with the VA Palliative Care Consult Service and Inpatient Palliative Care Unit working under the supervision of the faculty at that site in collaboration with the palliative care team.
Two months with the Center for Hospice & Palliative Care (CHPC) Hospice Buffalo or Niagara Hospice, seeing patients both in the home for hospice and the Inpatient Unit (a 22-bed unit) supervised by the hospice medical director and other staff hospice physicians and you will have the opportunity to learn the administrative functions of hospice and participate in family and interdisciplinary team meetings. Trainees will be visiting patients in the home with members of the interdisciplinary team during the Home Hospice rotations. They are expected to maintain continuity of care and see at least 25 home care patients during the year, keeping a log of how many visits and patients, in addition to home care visit opportunities at 40 affiliated regional nursing homes.
One month will be spent at Erie County Medical Center under the supervision of Dr. Jihae Lee, Associate Program Director working on the inpatient consultation service. ECMC is a trauma one center so consultations will be on unique population of diverse and underserved patients.
One week will be spent with the University of Buffalo Substance Use Disorder Service learning compassionate care of those patients who may struggle with SUD and OUD.
Long-term nursing home visits for one month of the year have fellows working with a geriatrics attending physician and learning about delirium, polypharmacy, falls, incontinence, and wound care.
Ambulatory Continuity Clinic at Roswell Park Palliative Care Clinic is an interdisciplinary clinic setting with exposure to oncology patients with advanced disease who are treated for pain and non-pain symptoms, psychosocial and spiritual issues.
Pediatric experience includes two-week rotations with Essential Care as part of Center for Hospice and Palliative Care
Two-month elective time in a clinically relevant field is offered and available in ethics consultations, geriatric medicine, interventional pain management, psychiatry, HIV clinic, pediatrics, radiation oncology, pulmonary, cardiology, neurology, scholarly activity (research) or other experiences determined to be appropriate by the program director. Fellows choose the elective and together with the program director, arrange the rotation at one of the participating institutions.
Scholarly activity or a scholarly project is required by completion of the fellowship. Examples may include starting or helping work on an existing academic research project, presentation of a poster/abstract at a national meeting, or publication of a case report, review article or book chapter. Fellows are asked to keep a portfolio for documentation. One month of elective time may be dedicated to their project.