Overview
The University of Arizona College of Medicine – Phoenix Hospice and Palliative Fellowship program utilizes the facilities of Banner – University Medical Center Phoenix, Phoenix VA Medical Center and Phoenix Children’s Hospital. It is a one year, multidisciplinary program accepting up to two fellows each year.
The field of Hospice and Palliative Care, although new as a specialty, is in reality focused on the reason most of us entered the medical profession — the relief of suffering and improvement in quality of life for our patients.
Fellows will work with an interdisciplinary team of palliative care professionals in the inpatient, outpatient, long-term care and hospice settings. They will see patients as consultants in the inpatient setting, following them longitudinally from intensive care through hospitalization to outpatient follow up, long-term care or hospice. In addition to clinical teaching, there are weekly didactic sessions and time for research in an area of the fellow’s interest.
The focus of the program is to develop the communication skills and clinical experience to enable the fellow to function as a major contributor to the interdisciplinary team dealing with the physical, emotional, interpersonal and spiritual challenges of chronic illness and the journey at the end of life.