For their inpatient acute care experience, fellows will rotate with the palliative care consultation team at John Dempsey Hospital (JDH). The interdisciplinary team (IDT) palliative care team at JDH includes physicians, nurse practitioners, pharmacist, chaplain and social worker. The team sees over 50 new consults each month and completes over 200 visits each month. Reasons for consultation include goals of care, complex pain and symptom management, and support for patients and families navigating serious illness. Patients have a variety of underlying diagnoses, including dementia, advanced cardiac and pulmonary disease, and cancer.

As a member of the inpatient palliative care consultation team, the fellow will meet with the staff (MD/NP) on service each morning to receive patient assignments, review cases and plan the day. Fellows will collaborate with the team pharmacist, social worker and chaplain as the patients’ needs dictate. Fellows will see patients independently and with direct and indirect supervision, as appropriate, and will discuss all care plans with the attending, supervising physician. Fellows will see patients daily, communicate with the referring team, complete appropriate documentation and precept each patient with a staff member.  Fellows will join the team at IDT meetings, attend clinical and educational conferences and participate in the education of rotating learners.