Palliative medicine

During your palliative medicine rotation, you’ll be exposed to common and rare medical conditions. You may also seek appropriate learning opportunities to make the most of your individual experience at Geisinger Medical Center. The staff and residents are excellent resources to further your education.

Goals and objectives

To advance the medical knowledge and clinical skills acquired during the third- or fourth-year palliative elective.

Medical knowledge
You’re expected to demonstrate knowledge of established and evolving biomedical, clinical and social sciences, and apply your knowledge to patient care and education.

Objective: Develop knowledge concerning difficult physician/family and patient communication issues.

Patient care
You’ll learn and provide care for patients with interdisciplinary therapeutic palliative care model targeted to the care of patients with all types of chronic and progressive illness. Objectives:

• Improve skills in pain assessment and management.
• Improve skills in other palliative and supportive medicine issues such as dyspnea, nausea, vomiting, bowel obstruction, constipation, delirium and confusion.
• Observe and participate in numerous patient and family conferences.
• Improve skills in discussing difficult medical problems and prognoses including advanced directives, CPR and artificial hydration and nutrition in palliative medicine.
• Develop an understanding of hospice and the role it may play in the care of the terminally ill.
  

Communication and interpersonal skills
You will demonstrate interpersonal and communication skills that allow you to establish and maintain professional relationships with patients, families and members of the healthcare teams.

Objective: Develop communication skills in end-of-life care.

Professionalism
You’ll demonstrate behavior reflecting a commitment to continuous professional development, ethical practice, an understanding and sensitivity to diversity and a responsible fiduciary attitude toward your patients, profession and society.

Practice-based learning
You will use scientific methods and evidence to investigate, evaluate and improve your patient care practices.

Objective: Read specific medical articles pertaining to palliative medicine issues. 

Systems-based practice
You’re expected to understand the contexts and systems in which healthcare is provided and be able to apply this knowledge to improve and optimize healthcare.

Objective: Understand logistics of hospice appropriateness, eligibility and description of hospice-provided care.