Education:
UNM School of Medicine: Integration of palliative care into the four-year curriculum that includes palliative care lectures, tutorials, OSCEs, hospice experience. Dr. Judith Kitzes accomplishes these activities through participating in the Integrating Group.
Graduate Medical Education: House Officer training in communicating bad news, death disclosure, advanced directives, pain and non-pain symptom management, hospice referral, bereavement and spiritual issues. Currently, all Internal Medicine, Family Practice, Ob/Gyn residents have palliative care exposure in a one month Geriatrics rotation, but this needs to be further developed, e.g., a one week intensive experience in the academic issues faced in end of life care which may be followed by a clinical experience.
Geriatric Fellowship: Geriatric Fellows experience three months in palliative care environment. They have access to a palliative care curriculum on UNM SOM WebCT and they attend the EPEC (Educating Physicians for End of Life Care) training program. In July 2003, Ann Gramza started as our first Palliative Care Fellow. This fellowship offers a rural experience with a focus on American Indian and Hispanic communities.
Research
The section will seek funding sources to promote palliative care research that will include the use of
telemedicine, palliative care issues for American Indians, and effective assessment of palliative care
curriculum in medical education.
Clinical
A weekly Palliative Care Clinic is held at the Westside Senior Health Center.
Faculty
Section Director:
Primary Appointments:
Secondary Appointments:
For further information, contact Judith Kitzes or Josephine Arguello, Program Manager at the UNM Palliative Care Office at 272-4868.
