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A palliative care champion is a clinician who furthers their own knowledge in palliative care to bring these values and skills to their practice by:

  • Raising the standard for communication and shared decision making
  • Advocating for greater integration of palliative care services, education, and research
  • Ensuring all patients with serious illness have access to palliative care services
  • Encouraging and supporting their team—from “within the group”—to learn and use these skills as standard of practice.

Who Can Become a Palliative Care Champion?

Explore this page to understand the vital role palliative care plays across the cancer care continuum. Find resources and learn how to join their efforts to improve patient outcomes and elevate the standard of care.

What is Palliative Care?

Palliative care is specialized medical care for people living with serious illnesses. It focuses on relieving symptoms and reducing the stress associated with these conditions. The primary goal is to improve quality of life for both the patient and their family.

Hear from Jackie Wall, MD, as she shares what it means to be a palliative care champion, and why this role is essential in improving the lives of patients with gynecologic cancers.

The Value of Palliative Care Champions in Gynecologic Oncology

Palliative care champions play a vital role across multiple areas of gynecologic oncology, including surgical care, patient and family support, healthcare provider well-being, and overall health system effectiveness.

The Role of Palliative Care in Surgery

Surgical patients have distinct palliative care needs that require thoughtful integration throughout the surgical journey:

Improving Quality of Life

Hear from Lori Spoozak, MD, as she explains why palliative care is more essential than ever in today’s gynecologic cancer care.

What’s Next? Get started with the resources below.

 

Palliative Care Module Series Part 1
Five 10–20-minute presentations on different topics with quizzes and case discussion guides—jump around and view the topics you’re most interested in.

Palliative Care Module Series Part 2 
Six 10–20-minute presentations on different topics with quizzes—jump around and view the topics you’re most interested in.

High Stakes Communication in Gynecologic Oncology
2-hour session recorded at the SGO 2024 Annual Meeting on Women’s Cancer with slides available to download. View it all at once or in segments.

Indications for Outpatient Palliative Care Consultation
50-minute on-demand session recorded for the SGO 2023 Annual Meeting on Women’s Cancer, focusing on how to introduce palliative care to patients.

Additional Educational Resources

Center to Advance Palliative Care (CAPC)
CAPC is a national organization dedicated to increasing the availability of quality, equitable health care for people living with serious illness, providing training and tools to meet this need and offering a formal CAPC Designation for individuals who complete the curriculum.

VITAL Talk Courses
VitalTalk is the premier training organization for clinicians seeking to advance their communication skills and offers online courses and Zoom or in-person workshops.

Harvard Educational Courses
The Harvard Medical School Center for Palliative Care offers several educational opportunities for medical professionals to develop their palliative care skills, with options for clinical and research-based practitioners.

American College of Surgeons (ACS)
The ACS website houses a repository of resources specific to surgical palliative care including links to related textbooks (mix of free and for purchase), journal special editions on surgical palliative care (free with institutional subscription), ACS guidelines, and more.

Hospice and Palliative Medicine Fellowship

Hospice and Palliative Medicine fellowship is a one-year specialized clinical program, accredited by the Accreditation Council for Graduate Medical Education, open to candidates from multiple residency specialties (including Obstetrics and Gynecology). This comprehensive interdisciplinary training centers around complex symptom management, psycho-social support and advance care planning for patients with serious illness across multiple clinical settings.

American Academy of Hospice and Palliative Medicine

Find other Fellowship Programs

Interdisciplinary Programs

Some universities offer flexible interdisciplinary certificate programs open to learners from multiple professional backgrounds (including physicians and advanced practice providers) who seek additional training in pain and symptom management, anticipatory guidance, ethics and advance care planning, communication skills, and interprofessional assessment. Learners may be eligible for tuition assistance.

University of California San Francisco Palliative Medicine Program

University of Colorado Anschutz Certificate Program