Jessica McFarlin, M.D., division chief of Palliative and Supportive Care at UK HealthCare and an associate professor of neurology at the University of Kentucky College of Medicine, has been selected as UK’s Bell Addiction Medicine Scholar for the current academic year.
The Bell Addiction Medicine Scholar program is part of the Bell Alcohol and Addiction Endowed Chair’s mission to expand physician education and improve care for patients with substance use disorders across UK HealthCare.
During her fellowship year, McFarlin will lead a quality improvement initiative to integrate harm reduction principles into the outpatient palliative care clinic. The project will develop approaches to improve communication about substance use and expand harm reduction practices such as naloxone education and safer opioid prescribing. McFarlin also plans to create a framework that other palliative care programs could adapt.
McFarlin earned her medical degree from the UK College of Medicine and completed her neurology residency at Duke University. She is board certified in neurology, neurocritical care, and hospice and palliative medicine.
As division chief of Palliative and Supportive Care at UK HealthCare, McFarlin oversees inpatient and outpatient palliative care services and treats patients with serious illness. She also teaches medical students, residents, fellows and other health professionals.
McFarlin’s clinical and scholarly interests include communication about serious illness and the development of new models of care for patients facing serious illness. Through the program, McFarlin hopes to improve care for patients who are managing serious illness, pain and substance use disorder at the same time. She also aims to build harm reduction-informed approaches that other palliative care programs can use.