Hospice and Palliative Medicine Fellowship

Bluegrass Care Navigators (BCN), previously Hospice of the Bluegrass, is a national leader in delivering high quality end-of-life care and a pioneer in developing new programs that are responsive to the evolving needs of seriously ill patients and their families. In addition to providing hospice services, BCN operates Bluegrass Palliative Care, Bluegrass Home Primary Care, Bluegrass Adult Day Health Care, Bluegrass Transitional Care and Bluegrass Grief Care.

BCN is a designated Palliative Care Leadership Center (PCLC) through the Center to Advance Palliative Care. As one of eight PCLCs in the United States, BCN has trained over 300 organizations in establishing and expanding high-quality palliative care programs. Finally, BCN is a two-time recipient of the prestigious “Circle of Life” award through the American Hospital Association and has been named a “Best Places to Work” by Modern Health Care for multiple years.

The UK Inpatient Palliative Care consult service provides trainees with in-depth experience with the full spectrum of patients, problems, and consultant relationships that palliative medicine physicians are likely to encounter. In addition to the attending physicians our interdisciplinary team includes a triage nurse, advanced nurse practitioners, and a full-time chaplain, licensed clinical social workers and a clinical pharmacist. This breadth provides deep learning opportunities. Learners of all levels rotate with the team allowing fellows to expand their teaching skills. We add an extra layer of support to every team at UK Chandler Medical Center including advance heart failure and LVAD, cardiac critical care and ECMO, inpatient oncology, and bone marrow transplant, all critical care and surgical specialties just to name a few.

The UK Outpatient Palliative Care clinics provide trainees with in-depth experience in outpatient palliative care, where they will gain experience in subspecialty pain and symptom management with clinicians skilled in palliative care, pain medicine, and addiction medicine. The Palliative Cancer Care Clinic at the Markey Cancer Center has a robust interdisciplinary team of the attending physician, advanced nurse practitioner, RN, chaplain, licensed clinical social worker, and clinical pharmacist. The clinic team works collaboratively with other Markey Cancer Center supportive services including integrative medicine and the psych-onc social work team of care navigators and counselors. There are also learning opportunities with an embedded palliative physician clinic at the Infectious Disease Bluegrass Care Clinic, that serves patients with HIV and other chronic and serious infections.