Hospice and Palliative Medicine Fellowship

We are pleased to have established a one-year fellowship in Hospice and Palliative Medicine as a joint effort between the University of Tennessee College of Medicine Chattanooga and Hospice of Chattanooga. 

The program is sponsored by the Department of Medicine and its Internal Medicine Residency Program.  We learned on January 26, 2009 that our program is among the first in the nation to be accredited and one of only two accredited in Tennessee.  Click here to view the press release.

The first Fellow began training on July 1, 2008 -- Musharraf Navaid, MD, a practicing physician in Internal Medicine in Laurinburg, North Carolina, who has elected to gain additional experience in Hospice and Palliative Medicine to take back to his community.

Hospice and Palliative Medicine represents the medical component of the broad therapeutic model known as palliative care. Hospice Care provides compassionate, comprehensive support services and symptom management before, during and after end-of-life situations.  Physicians involved in Hospice and Palliative Medicine reduce the burden of life-threatening conditions by supporting the best quality of life throughout the course of an illness, and by managing factors that contribute to the suffering of the patient and the patient’s family.

1. Palliative care addresses physical, psychological, social, and spiritual needs of patients and their families, and provides assistance with medical decision-making.
2. The major clinical skills central to the subspecialty of Hospice and Palliative Medicine are the prevention (when possible), assessment and management of physical, psychological and spiritual suffering faced by patients with life-limiting conditions, and their families. 
3. Hospice and Palliative Medicine is distinguished from other disciplines by:

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  • High level of expertise in addressing the multidimensional needs of patients with life-threatening illnesses, including a practical skill set in symptom control interventions;
  • High level of expertise in both clinical and non-clinical issues related to advanced illness, the dying process and bereavement;
  • Commitment to an interdisciplinary team approach; and
  • Strong approach on the patient and family as the unit of care.

The American Board of Medical Specialties (ABMS) announced the addition of a new sub-specialty certificate in Hospice and Palliative Medicine. This marks the first time ten ABMS Member Boards have collaborated in the offering of certification in one specific area. The ABMS Member Boards of Anesthesiology, Emergency Medicine, Family Medicine, Internal Medicine, Obstetrics and Gynecology, Pediatrics, Physical Medicine, Rehabilitation, Psychiatry, Neurology, Radiology and Surgery are co-sponsoring the certification which is being offered to physicians who currently hold specialty or sub-specialty certifications by one of their Boards at the University Of Tennessee College Of Medicine, Chattanooga. We are proud to offer one of the first Palliative Care Fellowship Programs within the Internal Medicine Department which will advance Hospice and Palliative Medicine in the United States. Providing certification in Hospice and Palliative Medicine will offer another dimension in the career paths of emerging and established physicians. This certification will open dialogue for improving how hospices, hospitals, and nursing homes care for patients with chronic progressive illnesses, as well as those near the end-of-life. The Department of Internal Medicine has been instrumental in sponsoring the first Fellowship Program. The Fellowship Program will allow physicians who choose to become certified in Hospice and Palliative Medicine, to formally show their commitment in providing quality care in assessing and managing the physical, psychological and spiritual suffering faced by patients with life-limiting illnesses and their families.