President’s Corner
Kimberly Curseen, MD FAAHPM
AAHPM President
Emory School of Medicine, Emory Palliative Care Center
Welcome to President’s Corner, a new series from AAHPM President Dr. Kimberly Curseen. As she begins her presidency, Dr. Curseen reflects on what led her to say yes to this role and what’s top of mind as she steps into leadership at an important moment for our field.
A Field Ready for Its Next Chapter
As Dr. Curseen steps into the presidency, her focus is clear: the future maturity of palliative care.
The field has reached an important milestone. Palliative care is now established and we should be asking how to grow wisely, sustainably, and with clarity. That shift brings new responsibility.
A major part of that work is defining scope: who palliative care serves, when it is introduced, and how it is delivered across hospice, hospital, ambulatory, and community settings. Without clarity, variability persists. With it, the field can better align expectations for patients, health systems, and policymakers.
Just as important is defining quality. Dr. Curseen sees AAHPM playing a critical role in developing benchmarks, guidelines, and practical frameworks that support clinicians and programs across diverse care environments. Clear standards help ensure that high-quality palliative and hospice care is both understood and consistently delivered.
Advancing the field also depends on how clinicians are trained. While specialty fellowships and mid-career pathways remain essential, there is a growing need to embed core palliative care skills into the foundation of all health professions. Communication, symptom management, serious illness decision-making, and team-based care are not optional but rather core competencies.
Research is another cornerstone. A strong and growing evidence base allows the field to refine care models, demonstrate value, improve outcomes, and guide policy. It is central to continued progress.
Underlying all of this is a pressing concern: workforce sustainability. Expanding access to palliative care is not possible without supporting the clinicians and teams who deliver it. Addressing burnout and strengthening team development are essential to long-term success.
A Perspective Grounded in Experience
Dr. Curseen’s perspective on leadership is shaped by a career spanning multiple care settings. She has worked across hospice, academic medicine, community practice, the VA, long-term care, home-based care, hospital programs, and ambulatory clinics while serving patients in rural, urban, and suburban communities.
These experiences have reinforced how differently serious illness care can look depending on geography, resources, and community needs.
Her understanding of care is also informed by lived experience. She brings a deep awareness of the barriers many patients and families face like housing instability, financial strain, transportation challenges, caregiving burdens, and limited access to healthcare. These are realities that shape whether patients receive the care they need.
This perspective is central to her approach to palliative care. It is not only about treating disease, but about caring for the whole person and family within the context of their lives. She says, “I do not see social determinants of health simply as academic concepts, I understand them as lived realities that affect patients and families every day.”
That lens played a key role in her decision to serve as president.
At a time of both change and opportunity, Dr. Curseen saw a chance to help shape the next phase of the field. She believes palliative care needs leaders who understand both its promise and the realities of delivering care across diverse settings.
Equally important is her commitment to AAHPM. The Academy serves as a cornerstone of the field providing advocacy, education, community, and a shared professional identity. It is a place where members come together to move the field forward collectively.
Looking Ahead
As Dr. Curseen begins her presidency, her focus is both grounded and forward-looking: strengthening the foundation of palliative care while helping define what comes next.
This post is part of President’s Corner, a series from AAHPM President Dr. Kimberly Curseen. Stay tuned for upcoming posts as we continue to explore key priorities shaping the future of palliative care.