Spring 2023
Featured
Feature
Academy Leads on Issues of Accessible, Equitable, High-Quality Care for Patients with Serious Illness
Larry Beresford When, in a moment of national racial reckoning, AAHPM was invited to join 30 other members of the Council of Medical Specialty Societies (CMSS) for ACGME Equity Matters, a learning collaborative hosted by the Accreditation Council for Graduate...
In this Issue
Meet the President
Meet AAHPM President Holly Yang, MD HMDC FACP FAAHPM
What led you to the specialty of hospice and palliative medicine? I was in medical school when my grandmother, Shue-In Yang, enrolled in hospice with amyotrophic lateral sclerosis. No doctor ever came to the house, but we received excellent care...
Clinical Pearls
Balancing Comfort and Communication at the End of Life
Kevin Dieter, MD HMDC FAAHPM The way in which care is given can touch the most hidden places. —Dame Cicely Saunders In the 1992 paper entitled “Palliative Medicine— Just Another Specialty?” Dr. Michael Kearney eloquently addressed the concern that our...
Art of Caring
A Milk Chocolate Prophecy
Amanda Dean, MSPC BSN RN CPON CHPPN I don’t believe in coincidences. Call it God, the Divine, the Universe, what have you. Are explanations always possible? Hardly. And I won’t venture to figure out the unfigureoutable. I will, however, take...
Pathways to Palliative Care
Dr. Justin Sanders: From the World of Art to Palliative Medicine
Marcin Chwistek, MD FAAHPM It was a cold Friday morning, one day before Christmas Eve in 2022, when I connected with Dr. Justin Sanders via Zoom. Dr. Sanders is the Kappy and Eric M. Flanders Chair in Palliative Care Medicine...
Roadblocks
We’re Remodeling! Stay Tuned
On behalf of the AAHPM Quarterly Editorial Board, we’re thrilled to introduce a new direction for this column, previously entitled “Let’s Think About It Again.” Over the last several years, we’ve used this space to highlight topics—both clinical and operational—that...
DEI LAB
The Words We Choose
Terry Altilio, LCSW APHSW-C, and Anne Kelemen, LICSW APHSW-C During a family meeting in the ICU, a family member asks, “Why do the doctors keep saying we can make him comfortable? He looks comfortable to me.” These are common words...
AAHPM Partner Updates
HMDCB Update
Initial Application Is Open Attention, hospice physicians! The 2023 initial application is now open through June 1, 2023! Join the Hospice Medical Director Certification Board (HMDCB) community this year by earning your hospice medical director certification (HMDC) credential. Late Application...
AAHPM News
Congratulations, 2023-2024 AAHPM Board of Directors
The newly elected board of directors began their terms following the 2023 Annual Assembly held in Montréal, Canada, March 22-25, 2023 President Holly YangMD MSHPEd HMDC FACP FAAHPM President-Elect Vicki Jackson MD MPH FAAHPM Treasurer Arif...
Quarterly Progress Report
AAHPM Points of Progress
Membership and Communities Committee Update Expand and Enhance Engagement Lindsay Ragsdale, MD FAAHPM, Chair As of December 31, 2022, AAHPM has 5,547 members, which is a 1.4% increase for this calendar year. The COVID-19 pandemic demanded immediate innovation and speed...