Palliative Care Educational Opportunities

Our team in the Justin Michael Ingerman Center for Palliative Care trains healthcare professionals on how to improve the quality of care for children living with life-limiting conditions.

Types of training available

  • Pediatric Palliative Care Fellowship: A one-year Fellowship in Hospice and Palliative Medicine for pediatric physicians interested in advanced training in hospice and palliative medicine.
  • Psychosocial Fellowship: A one-year fellowship for an experienced social worker, chaplain, child life specialist or art therapist interested in advancing their skills and working with children receiving palliative care. Applications will be available in January 2020 and a position is offered once every two years.
  • Pediatric Residents Elective: A two- to four-week rotation for CHOP pediatric residents interested in improving their skills in eliciting goals of care and symptom management.
  • Pediatric Fellow Elective: A two- to four-week rotation for CHOP fellows interested in improving their skills in eliciting goals of care and symptom management.
  • Medical Student Elective:  A two- or four-week elective focused on principles of palliative care, communication and symptom management for medical students at The University of Pennsylvania School of Medicine. In certain circumstances, we offer electives to medical students from other institutions. If interested, please visit the University of Pennsylvania School of Medicine website to apply.
  • Nursing educational opportunities: The palliative care nursing team teaches the core principles of pediatric palliative care as part of the CHOP nurse residency program. In addition, the team participates in unit-specific educational initiatives.
  • Partners in Pediatric Palliative Care is a full-day educational forum that meets twice a year bringing together members of the palliative care team with hospice and homecare agencies in Pennsylvania, New Jersey and Delaware. 

The spring conference offers a full-day program designed to provide basic information for new providers in the field of pediatric palliative and hospice care. Topics include concurrent care, pediatric assessment and symptom management, psychosocial care of children and their families, and developing and maintaining a pediatric hospice program. This program is typically offered the second Tuesday in April.

The fall conference offers a full-day program focused on a variety of advanced and/or current/hot topics in pediatric palliative and hospice care. Past topics have included care of a child with primary brain and solid tumors. This program is typically offered the second Tuesday in October.

Both programs offer continuing education credits (CEUs) for nurses and social workers.

More information

To learn about the physician or medical student education, please contact Jennifer Hwang, MD, MHS.

To learn about the Partners in Pediatric Care community outreach program: Contact Gwenn LaRagione, RN, BSN.