Much of the interest in palliative medicine has been from physicians at midcareer, but there is increasing interest among young physicians and residents, said Dr. Philip H. Santa-Emma, medical director for the palliative care service at Mount Carmel.
“I've seen a huge increase in the number of residents coming through,” Dr. Santa-Emma said.
But the training of new physicians in palliative care also represents one of the next big challenges in the field, Dr. Meier said.
Currently, a cap exists on the number of residency positions that are funded by Medicare. And that limit makes it difficult for a new subspecialty to gain a foothold, she said.
Palliative care fellowships are currently funded by philanthropy.
As the field continues to move forward, there also needs to be continual education of the health care team about when to get palliative care involved, Dr. Santa-Emma said.
This is a message that has to get out to all members of the health care team, not just physicians, he said.
And members of the palliative care team need to figure out better ways to integrate their care into the intensive care unit and the emergency department, he said.