Conferences
Palliative Medicine Fellowship Bootcamp:
The Palliative Medicine Fellowship Bootcamp Session takes place during the fellowship orientation day in July. This intensive session includes several hours of high-yield topics, taught by the fellowship program director and assistant program director. The curriculum covers essential areas such as opioid management, nausea control, and communication skills for family meetings, providing fellows with a strong foundation at the start of their training.
Regional Fellows Conference: Core Curriculum Didactic Sessions
The Regional Fellows Conference encompasses the core longitudinal didactic curriculum for the UChicago fellowship. It is held monthly (as a half day on Tuesdays) throughout the entire academic year, in conjunction with the other Chicago palliative medicine fellowship programs (The University of Chicago, Northwestern University, and Rush/Stroger). These didactics are taught by faculty from the palliative medicine fellowship training programs at the different Chicago fellowship campuses and are held in person and, in some circumstances, virtually.
Geriatrics & Palliative Medicine Grand Rounds
At the University of Chicago, we also have grand rounds sessions throughout the academic year that include fellow-led sessions for journal club, case conference, and presentations of fellows’ year-long quality improvement (QI) projects (in the Spring). Fellows also have access to UChicago Medicine Internal Medicine Grand Round sessions (which happen weekly) and MacLean Center for Ethics case conferences. Grand rounds can be attended virtually when fellows are on off-site rotations.
Journal Club
Each fellow selects, reviews, and presents an article in the context of a patient case, detailing the importance of the chosen paper, its impact on clinical practice, and the pros/cons of the study design. It is recommended that fellows discuss/run through their article selection and reasoning with the fellowship program director at least 1-2 weeks in advance of their journal club presentation to ensure being on the right track.
Case Conference
Fellows will also participate in Case Conferences, which center around cases involving system-level deficiencies that may present opportunities for quality and safety analysis and improvement. These sessions provide a platform for critical evaluation and discussion on how to implement improvements.
Quality Improvement (QI) Projects
Fellows will present their quality improvement projects to the section. During their fellowship, fellows are involved in QI initiatives aimed at improving the quality of patient care, enhancing safety, and optimizing care delivery systems.
National Conferences
In addition to institution-level conferences, fellows are highly encouraged to attend the AAHPM (American Academy of Hospice and Palliative Medicine) National Assembly and PalliTALK conferences, with the exception of unresolvable schedule conflicts. Fellows will have protected continuing medical education (CME) time and education funds to help cover conference expenses.
- AAHPM Annual Assembly: This annual conference brings together hospice and palliative care professionals from across the country. It offers a wide array of educational sessions, research presentations, and networking opportunities.
- PalliTALK: A workshop designed to enhance the communication skills of healthcare professionals working in palliative care. PalliTALK focuses on the critical conversations around serious illness and end-of-life care, providing fellows with hands-on training in effective and compassionate communication.