Hospice and Palliative Medicine

The Hospice and Palliative Medicine Fellowship provides fellows with the opportunity to experience the practice of palliative medicine in a wide variety of healthcare settings.
Program Contact
Francetta Hampton
Program Coordinator
(312) 864-7345
Harman Grewal, MD
Program Director
(312) 864-4430

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About

Patients come from diverse socioeconomic, cultural and ethnic backgrounds, and the geographic settings of care range from the inner city of Chicago to suburban areas.

The faculty members bring expertise in hospice and palliative care, as well as expertise in various other relevant fields, including: ethics, general medicine and hospitalist medicine, critical care, clinical research, addiction medicine, geriatrics, pediatrics, cross-cultural medicine, faculty development, program development and medical education.

Participating Institutions

  • John H. Stroger, Jr. Hospital of Cook County (a large, inner-city, public hospital)
  • Rush University Medical Center (a quaternary academic hospital)
  • Addus Journey Care and Palliative Care (a community-based hospice program with extensive experience in educating a variety of health care professionals)
  • Seasons Hospice (community-based home hospice experience)
  • Advocate Lutheran General Hospital (community teaching hospital for the pediatric palliative rotation)

Goals

  • To educate the next generation of physicians in hospice and palliative care so that more people can receive the benefits of interdisciplinary quality care when confronted with life-limiting illness and at the end of life.
  • To train physicians to demonstrate competence in specialist-level expertise in palliative care. The program helps physicians develop academic, clinical, research and administrative skills that are consistent with the practice, development and improvement of palliative medicine and to rise to leadership in the field.
  • To help physicians develop a broad base of knowledge and analytical skills in palliative medicine. The program emphasizes communication, care planning, symptom management, relief of suffering and mentoring decision-making, particularly as applied to patients and families challenged with life-limiting illness or at the end of life.

Welcome From the Director

The Hospice and Palliative Medicine Fellowship is a one-year ACGME-accredited fellowship.

We are committed to the education of the next generation of physicians for a full-time career in academic or community-based palliative care and hospice. We take pride in the many unique aspects of this program and the enthusiastic commitment of our faculty.

Our fellows benefit greatly from the training environment created through the collaboration of Stroger Hospital, Rush University Medical Center, Addus Journey Care and Palliative Care, Seasons Hospice, and Advocate Lutheran General Hospital. Fellows experience the unique challenges of providing care in multiple settings and circumstances. Patients and families present from diverse socioeconomic and cultural backgrounds with a wide variety of disease conditions.

During the fellowship year, our fellows receive thorough training in the principles and practice of palliative care ensuring the continuity and quality of care across various healthcare delivery settings. Palliative care is by definition interdisciplinary. Thus, our fellows are able to draw upon and benefit from the expertise and instruction of other physicians, nurses, social workers, chaplains and healthcare professionals involved in the assessment and treatment of the patient/family unit.

Dr. Harman Grewal
Program Director

Application

Applicants must fulfill the following criteria:

  • Completed an ACGME or AOA-accredited residency program in any of the following fields: Anesthesiology, Emergency Medicine, Family Medicine, Internal Medicine, Neurology, Obstetrics and Gynecology, Pediatrics, Physical Medicine and Rehabilitation, Psychiatry or Surgery.
  • Board-eligible or certified in the primary discipline with intent to complete certification
  • Qualify to obtain Illinois Medical License and DEA certification (by the start of the fellowship)

Applications can be submitted by electronic residency application service (ERAS).

Curriculum

Regional Fellows’ Conferences: In order to foster camaraderie and collegiality with all the Chicago-area fellows, we have established a regional fellows’ conference series with the other two hospice and palliative medicine fellowships in Chicago at Northwestern Memorial Hospital and The University of Chicago. These monthly half-day sessions are rotated between institutions to allow the fellows to learn from all the academic palliative medicine faculty in Chicago. The sessions lay the foundation for core topics in palliative medicine through a formal, structured teaching session over the course of the academic year. The series in presented in a variety of formats, including didactic, interactive, case-based discussions and role play. Fellows are excused from their assigned rotation and are expected to attend the sessions.

Advanced Topics in Palliative Care: Provides formal, structured teaching on advanced topics in palliative medicine relevant to the specialist in palliative medicine. A one-hour session is conducted monthly by core faculty in the Section of Palliative Medicine, as well as outside speakers.

Journal Club: This session promotes an evidence-based approach and facilitates critical thinking and analysis in reviewing the palliative medicine literature. Monthly sessions are held to critically analyze medical literature, understand clinical research methodology, recognize limitations in palliative care research and understand the approach for protocol development.

Case Conference: This monthly conference provides a structured format for presentation and discussion of complex clinical, psychosocial, spiritual, ethical, and cultural issues that occur in caring for patients with life-threatening or life-limiting illness. Evidence-based solutions are sought to the issues raised.

Psychosocial Aspects of Care: This monthly conference includes discussion of topics related to the emotional, psychological and spiritual aspects of care and aspects of professionalism, including self-care.

Schwartz Rounds: This monthly forum is an interdisciplinary activity to enable caregivers to discuss the emotional and social aspects of caring for patients. Rush University Medical Center and Stroger Hospital both hold Schwartz Rounds.

Wellness Course: This course includes traditional wellness topics such as self-care, with modules on grief, DEI in healthcare, and giving and receiving feedback, as part of dedicated academic time every Tuesday afternoon throughout the fellowship. Fellows will also choose a dedicated faculty mentor to help guide them

Rotations

The three fellows will be actively involved in working with the interdisciplinary teams in a variety of clinical settings.

The fellows will rotate in the following clinical activities, with attention to ensuring the fellow integrates seeing patients across these care settings.

Inpatient Palliative Care Consultation Service: Fellows will spend up to 6 months on the inpatient consultation services divided between Rush University Medical Center and Stroger Hospital of Cook County. The consultation services at both institutions have well established interdisciplinary teams and are clinically intensive rotations.

Inpatient Hospice Unit: Fellows will rotate in a hospice inpatient setting dedicated to high acuity support for hospice patients and their families and for the care of the imminently dying. The fellows will spend a total of 8 weeks in this interdisciplinary setting.

Home and Long-Term Care: Fellows will spend at least 8 weeks seeing patients at home and in long-term care settings, focusing on facilitating inpatient-outpatient continuity of care, especially as related to the practice of palliative and hospice medicine.

Outpatient Clinic: Fellows will have a palliative care clinic 1 half-day per week for a minimum of 6 months and will be assigned a faculty preceptor. The fellows will see patients with a variety of diagnosis and have the opportunity to see patients across care settings, hospital to clinic or clinic to home hospice or hospital.

Electives: Fellows can select from a variety of elective rotations, including pain, integrative/complementary medicine, wound care, neurologic and rehabilitative medicine or research. Additional electives can be arranged based on the fellow’s interests.

Meet the 2024 Class of Palliative Care Fellows

Joel Solis arrives to Cook County with a background in family medicine. Originally wanting to pursue primary care, he had several encounters with patients with serious illness that made him want to pursue palliative care. He has a special interest in working with underserved patients and is looking forward to serving others in a palliative care setting. In his free time, he enjoys watching sports, learning about history, and exploring new cities. Joel looks forward to learning more about palliative care and becoming the best team player he can be.

Victor Wong is thrilled to join the palliative care program at Cook County/Rush University and serve the people of Chicago. He completed residency training in Emergency Medicine at Maimonides Medical Center, the largest hospital in Brooklyn, NY. Despite a deep passion for the breadth and acuity of emergency medicine, he made the most profound connections in the ED when having deep discussions with gravely ill individuals and their families. He is excited to continue exploring the complex cultural, ethnic, religious, and family backgrounds that influence the dynamic decisions of individuals and families at the end of life. Outside the hospital, Victor loves exploring the city with his friends, indulging in boba and spicy foods, and doing his best Steph Curry impression on the basketball court. Lastly, he knows his New York friends would disown him if he said that Chicago pizza > NY pizza, but it’s true!

Noorel Zia hails from the Motor City. He initially was a volunteer with the Hospice of Michigan before medical school and pursued his emergency medicine residency in Detroit. He enjoys the thrills of high acuity cases in the emergency room but is also deeply passionate about end-of-life care. On his free time, he likes playing guitar, rooting for the Detroit Lions (often times not so painfully), cooking at home, and trying new restaurants. He is looking forward to working in a brand-new city with a great group of peers and having the opportunity of treating complex medical pathologies of people from all walks of life while also giving back to an undeserved population.

2023 Fellows

Hospice and Palliative Medicine
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CCH Holiday Hours

Stroger Hospital and Provident Hospital are open 24 hours a day, 7 days a week, including holidays. If you are experiencing a medical emergency, please dial 911, or go to your nearest emergency department.

CCH Health Centers will be open limited hours for the holidays.

Christmas Eve – Tuesday, December 24, 2024: 8 a.m. – 4 p.m.

Christmas Day – Wednesday, December 25, 2024: CLOSED

New Year’s Eve – Tuesday, December 31, 2024: 8 a.m. – 4 p.m.

New Year’s Day – Wednesday, January 1, 2025: CLOSED