ABMS/ACGME Recognition of Hospice and Palliative Medicine

Working together, AAHPM and the American Board of Hospice and Palliative Medicine (ABHPM) have 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).

ABMS

In September 2006, ABMS voted unanimously to establish a subspecialty in hospice and palliative medicine. (Click here to view the press release.) We are hopeful that the first certification examination will be offered under the auspices of ABMS in 2008. Click here for the eligibility criteria for the ABMS-sponsored certificate in hospice and palliative medicine.

The co-sponsoring boards are:
The American Board of Internal Medicine
The American Board of Anesthesiology
The American Board of Family Medicine
The American Board of Physical Medicine and Rehabilitation
The American Board of Psychiatry and Neurology
The American Board of Surgery
The American Board of Pediatrics
The American Board of Emergency Medicine
The American Board of Radiology
The American Board of Obstetrics and Gynecology

ACGME

To view an anticipated timeline of ACGME Fellowship Program Accreditation, click here.

In July 2006, ACGME approved the establishment of an accreditation process for hospice and palliative medicine fellowship training programs. In the next steps, an ACGME advisory committee will develop program requirements, a PIF, and a review process. We are hopeful that paper accreditations can begin in 2007 with support from Internal Medicine, Anesthesiology, Emergency Medicine Family Medicine, Pediatrics, Physical Medicine and Rehabilitation, Otolaryngology, Psychiatry, Neurology, Radiology, and Surgery.

Background Information

For more information about the process of subspecialty recognition, refer to the following:

• Hospice and Palliative Medicine Subspecialty: Fact Sheet and Reading List (2 pages)
  
  
• State of the Discipline of Hospice and Palliative Medicine (13 pages)
  
  
• Letter to ABIM, May 2005
  
  
• Von Gunten CF, Lupu D. Development of a Medical Specialty in Palliative Medicine: Progress Report. JPM 2004;7:209-219.
  
  
• Portenoy R, Arnold R, et al. The Road to Formal Recognition: The End is in Sight. JPM 2005;8:266-268.