This unique interprofessional fellowship affords advanced practice clinician fellows the opportunity to train alongside our physician fellows through participation in interprofessional didactics, educational opportunities, and research which includes completion of a joint quality improvement project.

As a graduate of this fellowship, you will possess expertise in complex pain management, non-pain symptom management, pharmacology, and complex communication skills; skills that are imperative when caring for patients with a wide array of complex illness at various stages of disease. You will also receive training in basic research skills, quality improvement, and clinical education. Upon completion of the training, you will be equipped with skills that promote resiliency and self-care in order to foster passion for your work throughout your career.

Clinical training and rotations

The training for Mayo Clinic's Hospice and Palliative Medicine Fellowship consists of 12 months of clinical training, including an outpatient palliative care clinic experience, complemented by didactics and research opportunities.

Rotation schedule

The academic year is divided into 13, four-week block rotations. The final week of each block includes two days of scholarship, two days in the outpatient palliative care clinic, and one day of didactic.

Specific rotation details are below:

Didactic training

Didactic training is an integral part of the Hospice and Palliative Medicine Fellowship. During your training, you participate in these conferences:

• Hospice and palliative care noon conference. Mandatory, interactive didactics that incorporate complex case discussions, expanded bereavement and wellness content, as well as knowledge-based didactic sessions from faculty within and outside palliative care at Mayo Clinic in Rochester.
• Hospice and Palliative Medicine Grand Rounds. Quarterly lectures given by national and international experts in palliative care.
• Palliative care core didactics. One full day each month is dedicated to core didactic training. These didactic sessions incorporate a variety of lecture, small group, and experiential learning styles (including training in the SIM Center) to convey necessary core skills in a fun and collegial manner.
• Journal club. Monthly interdisciplinary meetings reviewing research with geriatric and palliative care co-fellows applicable to the hospice and palliative care and geriatric populations. During this session, fellows are expected to critically appraise a contemporary evidence-based article relevant to the fellows’ practice.
• PalliTALK. This three-day intensive communication training is held in Madison, Wisconsin, for all of the Upper Midwest hospice and palliative care fellowships. This outstanding opportunity affords intensive training in expert-level communication in a fun and relaxed setting that also fosters your networking among fellow trainees. All participation costs, including registration, hotel, meals, and transportation costs are covered by the fellowship.

Other trainee experiences

External conferences

Mayo Clinic has outstanding trip support for fellows. Fellows are strongly encouraged to participate in the American Academy of Hospice and Palliative Medicine (AAHPM) Annual Assembly. All participation costs including registration, hotel, transportation, and meals are covered by the fellowship. Trip days to attend AAHPM are accounted for within the curriculum and do not require use of vacation days.

Research training

Research opportunities abound at our world-class academic medical center. You are expected to participate in scholarly activities, including completion of a mentored quality improvement project in coordination with your co-fellows.

Teaching opportunities

Opportunities are available for you to teach rotating residents, medical students, and advanced practice provider trainees. In addition, advanced practice fellows are charged with the provision of a didactic session to the palliative care faculty that is of interest to the fellow and applicable to the palliative care and hospice populations.

Schedule and hours

Your schedule will depend on your rotation block, most of which require an average of 50 training hours per week. Shifts are 8- to 12- hours, three to five days per week depending on outpatient or inpatient schedule. While on the inpatient palliative care service, your schedule will include overnight shift assignments as well as one weekend per block.

Weekend schedule will vary, dependent on current block rotation assignments during the fellowship year.

Call frequency

Advanced practice clinician fellows will not take call during fellowship.

Program faculty

Department

The Section of Palliative Medicine at Mayo Clinic delivers interprofessional team-based care for patients and families dealing with serious illness. The goal of the palliative care practice is to bring palliative services to the right patient at the right time within their disease trajectory.

Care is led by certified, subspecialty palliative medicine clinicians who use a collaborative approach across medical disciplines, relying on input from physicians, advance practice clinicians, pharmacists, nurses, chaplains, social workers, music therapists, psychologists, and other allied health professionals in formulating a plan of care to relieve suffering in all areas of a patient's life.

Palliative medicine is intimately aligned with the primary values, mission, and vision of Mayo Clinic.

Facilities

You will provide care at both campuses of Mayo Clinic Hospital- Rochester, gaining experience in expert symptom management and complex communication.

Mayo Clinic Hospital — Rochester, Saint Marys Campus

There are two palliative care consultation services at this campus that care for patients with advanced cardiac and lung diseases, trauma, oncologic, surgical, geriatric, and neurological conditions both on the general care floors, as well as intensive care units.

Mayo Clinic Hospital — Rochester, Methodist Campus

There is one palliative care consultation service at the Rochester Methodist Campus. This team cares for patients with hematologic/oncologic diagnoses, including both solid tumor and hematologic malignancies, blood and marrow and solid organ transplant recipients, as well as patients within a limited number of medical and surgical subspecialties.

Evaluation

To ensure that you acquire adequate knowledge and develop the appropriate technical skills to meet program expectations, your performance is monitored carefully during the Hospice and Palliative Medicine Fellowship ensuring alignment with the Palliative Nursing: Scope and Standards of Practice (2021) and Core Competencies for the Palliative and Hospice APRN (2021).

You are formally evaluated by supervising faculty members after each clinical rotation and meet with the program director on a quarterly basis to review these evaluations. In addition, you regularly evaluate the faculty to confirm that your educational needs are being met.