Hospice & Palliative Medicine Fellowship

There are five core components of our formal educational program for palliative care fellows:

1. A regional fellows' conference consisting of a monthly half-day conference with all Chicago-area palliative care fellowships
2. Weekly fellows' conference consisting of clinical topics, case conferences, journal clubs and reflective reading
3. Weekly palliative care/hem-onc conference during the summer focusing on supportive oncology
4. A three-day intensive communication skills training retreat in the fall
5. A longitudinal spirituality curriculum

Reinforcing our formal didactic curriculum, fellows are an integral part of our interdisciplinary team, which relies upon team members from multiple professional backgrounds to explore and address the medical, psychosocial, spiritual, cultural and socioeconomic influences on every patient's (and family's) experience of serious illness. Fellows develop their clinical skills over time by working alongside members of the team, continuously reflecting upon areas for improvement, and collaborating with colleagues across the institution and region to seek the best goal-consistent outcome for each patient and family.

Several opportunities for scholarly activity are available through the fellowship program. All fellows have a half day per week that is protected for academic time and all fellows complete a mentored quality improvement project in an area of interest. Examples of prior projects include: 

• Improving hand-off processes within the section
• Integrating functional assessment into palliative care clinic
• Establishing workflows within the emergency room to address goals of care during the COVID pandemic

Fellows also have the opportunity to engage in other teaching and research projects within the Section of Palliative Care or in conjunction with other faculty throughout the university. Examples of recent or ongoing academic work within the section include:

• PACT (Preference-Aligned Communication and Treatment): A multi-site advance care planning initiative
• Mastery Learning of Breaking Bad News: A competency-based approach to communication skills training
• Poetry for Veterans: Using poetry as a clinical intervention at the VA
• The Education in Palliative and End-of-Life Care (EPEC) Project: Founded in the late 1990s and now adapted for many specialties and cultures, EPEC is one of the foundational educational initiatives in the field of Palliative Care

Fellows rotate through Hospice & Palliative Medicine for a year, and their clinical experience includes:

• Northwestern Memorial Hospital inpatient Palliative Care Service (four months)
• Jesse Brown Veteran’s Affairs (VA) Hospital inpatient Palliative Care Service (two months)
• Hospice (three months)
• MICU (two weeks)
• Pediatric Palliative Care at Lurie Children's Hospital (two weeks)
• Elective time (four weeks): Shirley Ryan AbilityLab, Northwestern Interventional Pain Clinic, spirituality, psychiatry and opportunities abroad
• Palliative Care Outpatient Clinic (two weeks)

The McGaw Palliative and Hospice Medicine Program offers a pediatrics track in collaboration with the Pediatric Palliative Care program at the Ann & Robert H. Lurie Children's Hospital of Chicago. Lurie Children's is McGaw's tertiary care children’s hospital, located on the Northwestern Medicine campus and connected to Northwestern Memorial Hospital by a bridge.

The pediatrics track includes:

• Eight months of pediatric palliative care at Lurie Children's Hospital
• Three months of adult palliative and hospice care
• Opportunities for perinatal palliative care consultation

The Lurie Children's program focuses on pain management, complex medical decision-making and end-of-life care. It offers a multidisciplinary approach with a team of physicians, nurses, social workers, chaplains and other specialists.

Candidates who have completed an ACGME-accredited residency in Internal Medicine, Anesthesiology, Family Medicine, Physical Medicine and Rehabilitation, Psychiatry, Neurology, Surgery, Pediatrics, Emergency Medicine, Radiology or Obstetrics and Gynecology are eligible to apply. Positions are contingent upon eligibility for a full unrestricted Illinois medical license. If applicable, candidates must also possess a valid VISA and be eligible to work in the United States.

Hospice & Palliative Medicine is participating in the National Residency Match Program (NRMP). Our program accepts applications through the ERAS website and will begin reviewing application via ERAS. For more information, please email LaWanna Audain or call her at 312-926-0008. Questions about the pediatric track fellowship can be sent to the pediatric track program director, Michael Certo, MD.

As you consider us as the potential sponsor with which to continue your training, review the information about our institutional benefits and policies available on the McGaw Medical Center website.

The following items must be submitted before your application may be considered:

1. Curriculum vitae (including a list of publications)
2. Personal statement
3. Official medical school transcript
4. Letters of recommendation from three faculty members familiar with your current experience, one of whom must be your residency program director
5. Photocopy of original examination results with dates
6. Photocopy of ECFMG certificate (if applicable)
7. Photocopy of visa/citizenship papers (if applicable)

Please be sure to select "McGaw Medical Center of Northwestern" and our program's ACGME code is 5401614026.