OMAHA, Neb. (KMTV) — The University of Nebraska Medical Center has received approval to create a fellowship program in hospice and palliative medicine.
UNMC partnered with Children's Hospital & Medical Center and the Nebraska-Western Iowa VA Healthcare System to create the state's first formal training program to help relieve the shortage of physicians trained in hospice and palliative medicine.
Physicians with hospice and palliative medicine training help patients with serious or terminal illnesses address problems with symptoms, including pain, depression, and anxiety as well as help patients and families meet social and spiritual needs.
The one-year fellowship will begin in July 2020 with three fellows engaging in adult and pediatric rotations in areas such as pain management, oncology, and home hospice. One will be focused on pediatrics at Children's, while the adult-focused area will be rotations at Nebraska Medicine and the Nebraska-Western Iowa VA Healthcare System. New fellows will be selected every year.
The program is subspecialty training after residency, and is open to physicians from across the state and nationwide.