MED 9580 Palliative Care

Credits:

2,4

Directors:
Edewaard
Grading:
Pass/Fail
Prerequisites:
Completion of Core Clerkships
Offered:
Description:

Palliative care focuses on improving quality of life and providing comfort to people of all ages with serious, chronic and life-threatening illnesses. While many think of "hospice" as being synonymous with palliative care, it is not hospice (which primarily serves the patient whose life expectancy is less than 6 months). During this elective, the student will observe the spectrum of palliative care, from helping families and the patient understand and cope with the diagnosis of a serious illness that may or may not be able to be cured, observing end-of-life discussions including patient-centered goal setting, providing symptom relief management to offer comfort (especially pain and non-pain syndromes), and with the transition to hospice care when appropriate. A palliative care service is a multidisciplinary team consisting of the physician, advanced practice provider, and medical social worker. Chaplain services as well as rehabilitation and nutrition specialists may be consulted if needed to fulfill the overall care plan. At Bronson, their program is called "Advanced Illness Management". The student will attend weekly Grand Rounds and Internal Medicine block conference.