AAHPM Progress Report 2011 : Page 7The Value of Fellowship Funding In 2005, the University of Rochester Medical Center (URMC) reached a turning point in its palliative care program. “As our clinical consultation program was growing, we were heavily involved in medical student and resident training,” said Timothy Quill, MD FAAHPM. “Several of our best residents began asking about fel-lowships, and there was a desire among our faculty to develop a fellowship training program. Unfortunately, there was initially no funding, and our hospital’s fed-erally funded fellowship positions were already well over the limit.” Grant funding from AAHPM helped Dr. Quill and his colleagues at URMC fund fellowships and create a more defined, rigorous educational program that has been sustained beyond the duration of the grant. “The external funding and recognition from AAHPM gave our program the experience, visibility, and cred-ibility needed to obtain additional funding.” Funding is key for exposing physicians, who often have received no previous training in the precepts of hospice and palliative medicine, to the field. Gailey Gonzales Ona, MD FAAHPM, said what attracted her to the field was the potential to help patients “under-stand that there are ways to help [them] despite the fact that conventional medicine often ‘fails.’” AAHPM continuously seeks funding from national foundations to ensure that physicians are able to pur-sue their interest in hospice and palliative medicine. The Academy was awarded a $1.2 million grant from The Hearst Foundations’ Aging Initiative in June 2011. The money will be used to support accredited fellow-ship training programs in hospice and palliative medi-cine over a 3-year period. Academic Support When the grandfathering period ends in 2013, board certification in HPM will only be possible following an educational pathway. AAHPM is committed to strengthening the academic sector by supporting fellowship training and faculty development programs. t The Academy held the fifth annual Fellowship Summit in Atlanta, GA, to strengthen interdisciplinary program development between fellowship dire-ctors, faculty, and coordinators from established and developing fellowship training programs. t AAHPM continued to support AAHPM LEAD, a pilot leadership experience promoting collaboration and learning between junior and senior faculty mem-bers of the Academy. t AAHPM engaged an outside consultant to conduct research identifying priority issues and challenges for academic programs. As part of this research, focus groups were held at the Annual Assembly to understand the needs, interests, satis-faction, and expectations of current academic chief members and to begin to address any gaps. Dr. Quill (second from left) with three of his fellows at the University of Rochester Medical Center. 2011 Progress Report | 7 The Value of Fellowship Funding<br /> In 2005, the University of Rochester Medical Center (URMC) reached a turning point in its palliative care program.<br /> <br /> “As our clinical consultation program was growing, we were heavily involved in medical student and resident training,” said Timothy Quill, MD FAAHPM. “Several of our best residents began asking about fellowships, and there was a desire among our faculty to develop a fellowship training program. Unfortunately, there was initially no funding, and our hospital’s federally funded fellowship positions were already well over the limit.”<br /> <br /> Grant funding from AAHPM helped Dr. Quill and his colleagues at URMC fund fellowships and create a more defined, rigorous educational program that has been sustained beyond the duration of the grant. “The external funding and recognition from AAHPM gave our program the experience, visibility, and credibility needed to obtain additional funding.”<br /> <br /> Funding is key for exposing physicians, who often have received no previous training in the precepts of hospice and palliative medicine, to the field. Gailey Gonzales Ona, MD FAAHPM, said what attracted her to the field was the potential to help patients “understand that there are ways to help [them] despite the fact that conventional medicine often ‘fails.’”<br /> <br /> AAHPM continuously seeks funding from national foundations to ensure that physicians are able to pursue their interest in hospice and palliative medicine. The Academy was awarded a $1.2 million grant from The Hearst Foundations’ Aging Initiative in June 2011. The money will be used to support accredited fellowship training programs in hospice and palliative medicine over a 3-year period.<br /> Publication List Using a screen reader? Click Here |
