About AAHPM

History

2006-present

• In 2006, AAHPM and the American Board of Hospice and Palliative Medicine working together achieved recognition for the subspecialty of hospice and palliative medicine within the American Board of Medical Specialties (ABMS) and the Accreditation Council for Graduate Medical Education (ACGME). The ABMS certification examination will be co-sponsored by the following: The American Boards of Internal Medicine, Anesthesiology, Family Medicine, Physical Medicine and Rehabilitation, Psychiatry and Neurology, Surgery, Pediatrics, Emergency Medicine, and Radiology. Approval is still pending from the American Board of Obstetrics and Gynecology.
• Attendance at the 2006 Annual Assembly exceeded 1700 and membership surpassed 2600.
• The 4th edition of the Primer of Palliative Care was published in February 2007.

2002-2005

• AAHPM secured a seat in the AMA House of Delegates
• AAHPM, HPNA, and NHPCO formed the Hospice and Palliative Care Coalition
• In 2003, a new edition of the UNIPACs physician self-study series and the Pocket Guide to Hospice/Palliative Medicine were published
• In 2003, the Academy received a $1.2 million grant from the Open Society Institute’s Project on Death in America to be used for hiring a part-time physician executive, providing part-time compensation to the President of the Academy, expanding staff, and developing a College of Palliative Care.
• In 2004, a Medical Director Model and the 3rd edition of the Primer of Palliative Care were published
• The College of Palliative Care was established to advance palliative care as an academic and clinical discipline through educational and research endeavors. The first programs included one-on-one and long-term mentoring, and an Assembly scholarship program.
• In 2005, a new electronic publication, PC-FACS, was launched; the Hospice Medical Director Course became available on CD and CD-ROM; and the Academy hosted the first two-day meeting to provide technical assistance to fellowship program directors.

1997-2001

• The Academy’s membership had grown to over 1400 members in 1997
• The position statement on physician assisted suicide was updated, enabling the Academy to respond to the U.S. Supreme Court’s decision on PAS
• The Academy established a membership category for fellows, residents, and students
• “Advancing the Science of Comfort—Affirming the Art of Caring” was adopted as the Academy’s guiding principle
• A position statement on the Use of Nutrition and Hydration was approved
• In December 1999, the Academy’s offices were moved to Glenview, IL

1992-1997

• In a two-day strategic planning session, the academy identified four major goals:
  1. To increase membership communication;
  2. To develop standards for the specialty of hospice palliative care;
  3. To consider an independent annual meeting;
  4. To establish hospice as core component of health care.
• Hospice Update was renamed Academy Update and offered as a member benefit 4 times a year
• Primer of Palliative Care (originally published as the Primer of Hospice Care) was published
• The first edition of the UNIPACs physician self-study series was completed
• The Academy published the first core curriculum of hospice and palliative care
• Sponsored and encouraged by AAHPM, the American Board of Hospice and Palliative Medicine (ABHPM) was incorporated in May 1996, with the first certifying examination held later that year
• The Academy achieved CME provider status in January 1996 and, after an initial probationary period, gained full approval from the American Council on Continuing Medical Education (ACCME) for a five-year period beginning January 1998
• After years of holding an annual meeting in conjunction with IHI and the Academy of Hospice Nurses (AHN), the Academy sponsored its first independent annual assembly in 1996 in Snowbird, UT
• Also in 1996, the Academy changed its name to the American Academy of Hospice and Palliative Medicine (AAHPM)
• In December 1996, the Academy was accepted as a provisional member of the Specialty and Service Society Section (SSS) of the American Medical Association (AMA)

1987-1992

• In the summer of 1987, Josefina B. Magno, MD, President of the International Hospice Institute (IHI), and Gerald Holman, MD, Director of St. Anthony's Hospice and Life Enrichment Center (SAHLEC) in Amarillo, TX, met to discuss the possibility of organizing an Academy of Hospice Physicians.

• At the IHI meeting in Granby, CO in June 1988, 127 of an original 250 founding member physicians gathered and the Academy of Hospice Physicians was born.

• Education programs were developed in Amarillo, West Palm Beach, and Philadelphia to share information with physicians interested in hospice care.
• Standing and ad-hoc committees on education, ethics, standards, and membership were established.
• The first issue of the Hospice Update newsletter was published
• A position statement on physician-assisted suicide (PAS) was adopted