Hospice & Palliative Medicine Fellowship
Training in Hospice and Palliative Care
The Hospice and Palliative Medicine fellowship at Beth Israel Deaconess Medical Center (BIDMC) and Boston VA is an ACGME-accredited training program housed in the Department of Medicine at BIDMC. Through our fellowship program, we’re training the next generation of leading clinicians, educators, team members, and thought leaders working to advance the care of patients and caregivers facing serious illness.
As a fellow, you’ll gain broad clinical experience over the course of this yearlong program and immerse yourself in the care of a diverse patient population across multiple teams and settings. In addition to preparing you for your HPM board certification, our cutting-edge educational curriculum addresses a wide range of topics including serious illness communication, medical education, patient safety, and quality improvement. Graduates of our program have an ongoing track record of scholarship during the training year and have gone on to improve hospice and palliative care here in Boston, across the United States, and around the world.
Our program combines the personalized mentorship and responsive curriculum of a smaller program with the diverse clinical experiences of an elite multi-site training program. Our curriculum, supported by content experts and resources across Harvard Medical School, prepares fellows for academic and organizational leadership careers in hospice and palliative medicine. BIDMC itself is a top-ranking academic medical center with a long-standing dedication to education, clinical care, and research.
On behalf of our faculty, fellows and alumni, clinicians, colleagues, and teammates at both our flagship and affiliate clinical sites, we welcome you to the BI-VA HPM program!
Sincerely,
Our Program Leadership Team
Jonathan Yeh, MD, Program Director
L. Michal Skarf, MD, Associate Program Director
Shih-Ning Liaw, MD, FAAP, Site Director, Boston Children’s Hospital
Alden Rinaldi, MD, Site Director, Care Dimensions
Gillian Sutton, MD, Site Director, Good Shepherd Community Care
Rashmi Kaura, MD, Site Director, Hebrew SeniorLife
Program at a Glance
- Yearlong clinical fellowship
- Rotate at six partnered organizations, each with a dedicated HPM site director
- Collaborate with interdisciplinary teams consisting of physicians, nurses, social workers, chaplains, and pharmacists
- Learn from a formal curriculum that emphasizes communication, teaching skills, and scholarly work
- Work closely with a community of co-fellows from Harvard-affiliated Geriatric Medicine and Hematology/Oncology training programs
- Gain experience through diverse care settings, organizations, and patient populations
The program accepts trainees with either J-1 or H1-B visa with an ECFMG certificate.
Schedule at a Glance
Example rotation schedule shown. We provide fellows with the flexibility to extend or adjust rotation lengths based on interest.
- Inpatient Palliative Care Consultation (BIDMC/VA West Roxbury): 6 months
- Inpatient Hospice/Palliative Care Unit (VA Brockton): 4 weeks
- Home Hospice (Good Shepherd): 3 weeks
- Home and Inpatient Hospice (Care Dimensions): 3 weeks
- Long-Term Care (Hebrew Senior Life): 3 weeks
- Pediatric Palliative Care Consultation (Boston Children’s): 2 weeks
- Outpatient clinic (BIDMC/VA West Roxbury): Weekly half-day
- AAHPM Annual Assembly attendance: 1 week
- Electives: 4 weeks
- Vacation: 4 weeks
Hematology/Oncology and Hospice & Palliative Medicine Track
The Hematology/Oncology and Hospice and Palliative Medicine Track is an innovative, ACGME-approved combined fellowship for fellows who seek training in Classical Hematology, Malignant Hematology, Medical Oncology, and Hospice and Palliative Medicine. For more information about this 3-year program, please click here.
Frequently Asked Questions
Why choose the BI-VA HPM Fellowship Program?
Our program combines the personalized mentorship and responsive curriculum of a smaller program with the diverse clinical experiences of an elite multi-site training program. Our curriculum, supported by content experts and resources across Harvard Medical School, prepares fellows for academic and organizational leadership careers in hospice and palliative medicine. BIDMC itself is a top-ranking academic medical center with a long-standing dedication to education, clinical care, and research.
What are the clinical rotations in the program?
Fellows in this program rotate with six affiliated organizations: BIDMC, the Boston VA, Boston Children’s Hospital, Care Dimensions, Good Shepherd Community Care, and Hebrew SeniorLife. Each site has a fellowship-appointed Site Director, and the multi-site program leadership and faculty team meet quarterly to coordinate program goals and review learner feedback. You can view more details on the Clinical Rotations page.
How do you support fellows’ wellness during the training year?
We recognize that the HPM clinical fellowship represents a significant growth experience over one year. Confronting serious illness as a full-time job is rewarding but also intense, emotional work. Thus, attending to our learners’ personal wellness and empowering them to be well are team priorities at BIDMC and across our affiliate sites. This emphasis is reflected formally in our curriculum’s biweekly Care for the Caregiver sessions, which include fellows-only sessions to process and reflect on the training experience with guidance from a clinical psychologist, and monthly listening/reflection sessions shared by fellows and program leadership. Fellows also have access to mental health support through free and confidential programs at BIDMC and the Boston VA.
How do you support diversity and inclusivity in your program?
Our program serves diverse patient populations across six affiliate organizations. We are committed to fostering inclusive, collaborative, and respectful practice environments, as these are foundational in the delivery of excellent hospice care and palliative care. We also believe that our program’s mission to train the next generation of HPM clinician-leaders is inseparable from the field’s great need to elevate, recruit, and retain trainees of diverse age, race, gender, sexual orientation, gender identity, socioeconomic status, and disability. The fellowship’s core curriculum includes a critical examination of biases and systemic injustices within the field of HPM. At BIDMC, we as a Palliative Care team have completed implicit bias reduction and upstander intervention training. We are committed to fostering a diverse community of learners in the Department of Medicine and throughout the medical center.
What benefits can I expect?
The program provides full benefits for all fellows. Benefits are detailed on the Graduate Medical Education section of the BIDMC website. If you have questions, you can contact the Benefits Office at (617) 632-9400 or benefits@bidmc.harvard.edu.
What is your fellows’ weekend, night, holiday, and vacation schedule?
As a program, we prioritize our fellows’ education above service for service’s sake. To gain valuable experience in managing acute symptoms and triaging urgent consult requests, fellows are paired with an attending to be on-call for 6 weekends over the year: 3 in-person weekends while rotating with the BIDMC Palliative Care Service, and 3 weekends on phone call while rotating with the Boston VA Palliative Care team. There is no additional call while rotating at the other affiliate sites, and no additional weekday or nighttime call. Fellows have federal and statewide holidays off. Fellows receive 4 weeks of vacation (3 one-week blocks and 5 individual days to use as needed). Fellows are also supported in attending the AAHPM Annual Assembly.
Does the program accept trainees on a visa?
Yes, the program accepts trainees with either J-1 or H1-B visa with an ECFMG certificate.
How to Apply
The Hospice & Palliative Medicine Fellowship Program accepts applications each summer through ERAS. The application deadline is August 1st. Each application received before the deadline is reviewed holistically by multiple members of our Selection Committee. Geographic preferences and program preference signals in ERAS are considered as one portion of the holistic review process. Interview invitations are generally extended in early August, and interviews are held virtually in September. BIDMC participates in the National Residency Match Program.
Contact Us
If you have questions about your application, the application process, or the fellowship program, please contact Nina Dones via email or call 617-667-1320.
"My palliative care fellowship forever changed me and there's no doubt that all my patients are the true beneficiaries."
Jesse Solomon, MD
Hospice and Palliative Medicine Fellow 2019-2020