About AAHPM

Hospice and Palliative Medicine: A New Specialty

A century ago, the town doctor did everything - deliver babies, remove diseased gallbladders, attend to sick or dying people. As medicine evolved, many doctors started to specialize so they could provide better care. During the last 25 years, it became evident that there was a real need for doctors with expertise in caring for patients suffering from serious disease, with a focus on the patient, rather than the disease. A new specialty was born. The American Academy of Hospice and Palliative Medicine (AAHPM) formed in 1988, initially as the Academy of Hospice Physicians. Learn more about the history of AAHPM.

Doctors now can become board certified in hospice and palliative medicine. To become board certified, palliative doctors receive training and then must prove expertise in a number of areas, including:

• Effective management of pain and symptoms
• Determining the course of illness and guiding the patient in what may lie ahead, as well as explaining and counseling the patient regarding treatment options
• Effective and empathetic communication
• Management of spiritual distress, the dying process and psychological and social complications
• Ethical and legal guidelines for medical decision-making
• Grief and bereavement support

For more information about AAHPM and the programs, services and positions of our organization, you may visit us at www.aahpm.org.