Meeting American Council of Graduate Medical Education guidelines for a palliative medicine fellowship through diverse community partnerships.
BACKGROUND
The field of hospice and palliative medicine has grown to include more than 50 fellowship training programs. In 2007 hospice and palliative medicine received American Board of Medical Specialties (ABMS) recognition as a subspecialty of medicine. Palliative medicine fellowships will begin formal accreditation under the American Council of Graduate Medical Education (ACGME) in 2008.


OBJECTIVE
This paper details how one academic institution complied with draft ACGME Program Requirements for Fellowship Education in Hospice and Palliative Medicine addressing training sites and experiences by utilizing innovative community partnerships.


RESULTS
Through carefully designed collaborative partnerships with community organizations three draft ACGME requirements for accreditation were met. It is anticipated that the program will receive full accreditation through the ACGME in 2008.
Scharfenberger
Jennifer
J
Department of Medicine, University of Louisville School of Medicine, Louisville, Kentucky 40202, USA. jascha06@gwise.louisville.edu
Furman
Christian Davis
CD
Rotella
Joseph
J
Pfeifer
Mark
M
D000068:Accreditation / Q000592:standards; D004501:Education, Medical; D004503:Education, Medical, Graduate / Q000592:standards*; D005257:Fellowships and Scholarships; D019983:Guideline Adherence; D017051:Hospice Care / Q000592:standards*; D006801:Humans; D008511:Medicine / Q000592:standards; D019982:Organizational Case Studies; D010166:Palliative Care / Q000592:standards*; D013038:Specialization