GMED 741T Advanced Illness Care Continuity

Credits: 8
This 8 week long continuity elective offers students the opportunity to work with an interdisciplinary team to develop skills and expertise in the palliative care of patients living with life-threatening illnesses who are receiving either home based palliative care or hospice services. Students will explore clinical practice of Palliative and Hospice Care through home care experiences. Teaching occurs in the course of patient care provided with a supervising hospice physician or interdisciplinary team member. Examples of typical experiences include: performing palliative care assessments of patients in the home and/or long-term care facility setting, participating in family meetings, participating in interdisciplinary team conferences, or seeing patients in the outpatient oncology setting. Focus is on teaching palliative care assessment (including pain/symptom management, psychosocial assessment, prognosis, and goals of care), effective opioid use, effective use of adjuvant pain therapies and modalities, supporting family caregivers, assisting patients/families to achieve developmental goals and milestones at end of life, managing grief and loss, broaching difficult subjects with care, effectively using advance directives and POLST, self-care, and an interdisciplinary approach to care. Students will see patients and experience both bedside teaching and time alone with patients to assess them and discuss living with serious illness. Students will participate in weekly interdisciplinary team care conferences. Students will have the opportunity to participate in clinical quality improvement projects. Students will have opportunity to interact with pharmacy interns from Pacific University School of Pharmacy and work with hospice leaders with over 35 years of hospice and palliative care experience.

Graded: Pass/No pass
May be taken only once for credit