Hospice and Palliative Medicine Fellowship Program

Our fellowship positions are funded by the Medical University of South Carolina. We accept two fellows per year. Clinical rotations with MUSC and our affiliate sites provide fellows with a wide range of experience with diverse patient populations and treatment settings.

MUSC Health

• 20 weeks of inpatient Palliative Care consultation with our interdisciplinary team comprised of physicians, advanced practice nurses, social workers, chaplains, bereavement coordinator, and palliative care volunteers.
• MUSC Health University Hospital is a designated Level I trauma center, a transplant center (adult and pediatric, liver, kidney, heart, lung), and a burn center (adult and pediatric). Hollings Cancer Center is the only National Cancer Institute-Designated center in South Carolina. With the variety and magnitude of serious illness managed by our colleagues at MUSC, our fellows will see to the palliative needs of some of the most complex patients in the southeast.

 

Ralph H. Johnson VA Medical Center (VAMC)

• 4 weeks of inpatient long-term care (in the CLC nursing home) and 4 weeks of home hospice caring for veterans with chronic and complex illness. VA rotation also includes time in telemedicine and inpatient consults.

Roper Healthcare System

• 8 weeks of inpatient Palliative Care consultation service at Roper Hospital, a large community healthcare system in downtown Charleston and 4 weeks working with the corresponding Roper St. Francis Healthcare home hospice program.

Ambulatory Palliative Care Clinics

• Weekly outpatient Palliative Care follow up and new patient consultation for patients with a variety of serious illnesses.

MUSC Shawn Jenkins Children's Hospital

• 4 weeks of inpatient Pediatric Palliative Care consultation for patients ranging in age from neonate to teenager. The pediatric palliative care rotation also includes experience seeing patient in the Advanced Fetal Care Clinic and with Hands of Hope home hospice.

The Village at Summerville

• 4 weeks of year spent at Skilled Nursing Facility.

Activities Offered

• Didactics are held every Thursday and cover a wide breath of core palliative care topics. They are led by experts from other primary specialties and our own core faculty.
• Palliative Grand Rounds are held on the first Thursday of the month as part of didactic. Grand rounds are hosted by different clinicians within and outside of the institution.
• Schwartz Rounds
• Monthly collaborative case conferences with our 3 affiliated sites. The presenters include clinicians from MUSC, VA and Roper Hospitals.
• Journal club is incorporated into didactic monthly and focuses on readings and research articles that are discussed among the group.
• QI project
• Scholarly project/research
• AAHPM conference attendance

• Formal Resiliency Training
• Scheduled quarterly half days for self-care
• Robust resources after emotionally challenging cases both within the palliative care team and via hospital programs such as Arts in Healing and Pastoral Care
• Monthly Schwartz Rounds – Caring for the Caregiver – Grand rounds style events that explore the emotional aspects of cases or themes that impact healthcare providers
• Palliative Care team gatherings – Quarterly outings to celebrate milestones, decompress and enjoy each other’s company
• MUSC Campus:
  • MUSC Wellness Center
  • Medical District Greenway – Outdoor dining, daily food trucks, seasonal events
  • MUSC Urban Farm – Crop share, events, education and green projects
  • Arts in Healing – Events for staff wellness
  • St. Luke’s Chapel