Hospital Medicine Program About Us Clinical Programs Education Hospice and Palliative Medicine Fellowship Faculty Hospice and Palliative Medicine Fellowship Home Education Department Programs Hospital Medicine Program Hospital Medicine Program > Education > Hospice and Palliative Medicine Fellowship Fellowship Overview The Hospice & Palliative Medicine fellowship welcomes you to learn more about our program! We seek fellows who contribute to the diversity of our program and of our university. We therefore utilize a holistic evaluation during our interview process. Our fellowship program as well as the Palliative Medicine faculty members are part of the school's Hospitalist Program, we offer two positions annually. For one year, fellows rotate through several clinical locations for training. Our fellows also take part in interactive daily interdisciplinary team (IDT) meeting/rounds with the palliative medicine team, which includes physicians, advanced practice nurses, social workers, a pharmacist and a chaplain. Collaborating with IDT faculty members, our fellows learn to identify and address patients’ physical, medical, emotional, social, familial and spiritual needs. By the end of the program, fellows are able to: Discuss care goals with patients and their families in an acute care community hospital Work with an interdisciplinary palliative care team to provide consultations in an acute care community hospital Address common ethical and legal issues as a palliative medicine consultant Assist in discharge planning and determination of disposition from the hospital Hospice & Palliative Medicine Fellowship Director's Welcome Fellowship Details Clinical Rotations UCI Health Fellows spend three (3) months of the fellowship year on inpatient consultation services at UCI Health's Douglas Hospital. The 459-bed acute care hospital provides tertiary and quaternary care. Ambulatory and specialty medical clinics as well as behavioral health and rehabilitation services also are available at the medical center in Orange. Our inpatient consult service sees over 1,200 patients a year. Fellows take part in daily interdisciplinary rounds with the palliative care team, which includes attendings, residents, medical students, advanced practice nurses, social workers, a pharmacist, medical assistants and a chaplain. Fellows are expected to collaborate with the team to identify and address patients’ physical, medical, emotional, social, familial and spiritual needs. They are responsible for managing patients in an interdisciplinary clinic setting, functioning much like attending physicians. They also are responsible for the initial patient presentation as well as overseeing the resident and medical student presentations. Fellows also have continuity clinic at UCI Health on either Mondays or Fridays. Miller Children’s & Women’s Hospital Fellows spend one (1) month focusing specifically on the care of seriously ill pediatric patients at Miller Children’s and Women's Hospital in Long Beach. While on this rotation, fellows participate in scheduled, formal IDT meetings with nurse practitioners, physicians, nurses, social workers, case managers and chaplains. Fellow are expected to lead the IDT discussions. Fellows are responsible for coordinating care between specialists, primary care pediatricians and the interdisciplinary team with the goal of providing family-centered care for these children. The fellows follow their patients into home hospice or home palliative care. Hoag Memorial Hospital Presbyterian Fellows spend approximately two (2) months on the inpatient palliative care consultation service at Hoag Memorial Hospital Presbyterian, a large community medical center in Newport Beach. While on this rotation, they participate in a formal IDT daily meeting that include physicians, an advanced practice nurse, social workers and a chaplain. Fellows are expected to coordinate intensive whole patient care, family support and teamwork, in partnership with the referring teams. The objective is to meet the needs of patients and their families. The focus of the IDT at Hoag is communication. VA Long Beach Healthcare System Fellows spend at least one (1) month at inpatient hospice unit at the VA Long Beach Healthcare System. Fellows are expected to attend the weekly meeting of the interdisciplinary team, which includes a physician, a nurse practitioner, a social worker, nurses, a psychologist, a chaplain and a recreation therapist. Fellows are expected to take on the role of attending physician during this meeting and to help to coordinate an interdisciplinary care plan for the patients in the inpatient unit. During this rotation, fellows care for patients in the hospital's inpatient hospice unit. They also participate in new inpatient consultations to determine whether patients are appropriately assigned to the hospice unit. Fellows are expected to lead the IDT discussion and to coordinate the interdisciplinary resources appropriately. VITAS Healthcare Fellows spend at least three (3) months seeing hospice patients through the hospital agency VITAS Healthcare® in Orange County. Fellows participate in two (2) weekly hospice interdisciplinary team (IDT) meetings. During the first week of rotation, fellows shadow the team physician. In subsequent weeks, fellows take on increasing responsibility for creating comprehensive, interdisciplinary hospice care plans for the patients. About half the patients are in long-term care facilities. Fellows work under the supervision of the team physician and in conjunction with the team, which includes nurse case managers, licensed vocational nurses, chaplain/bereavement counselors, social workers and home health aides. The goal is for fellows to take on the role of team physician by the end of the rotation. Elective Rotation Fellows spend one (1) month on their elective rotation. Previous fellows have selected the following: international rotation, research, interventional-chronic-ambulatory pain, ethics, integrative medicine, subspeciality away rotation. Other examples of opportunities include: pediatric hospice/palliative care, neurocritical care, rehabilitation, cardiovascular ICU service, HIV clinic, and home dialysis. We are open and flexible to meet the request and needs of the fellows. Vacations/Time Off Fellows have 4 weeks of vacation and have all major holidays off. Call Fellows work 12 weekends a year. Please click here for a sample schedule. Faculty and Program Contacts Shiho Ito, MD Program Director, Hospice & Palliative Medicine Fellowship UCI Health Vincent D. Nguyen, DO, CMD Program Director, CARES Program Hoag Hospital Newport Beach Robert Nguyen, MD, MPH, HMDC Medical Director VITAS Healthcare David Ashen-Garry, DO Medical Director, Perinatal and Pediatric Palliative Care, MemorialCare Miller Children's & Women's Hospital Long Beach Jessica Humphreys, MD Section Chief, Hospice and Palliative Care VA Long Beach Healthcare System Other Faculty Mudit Dabral, MD - UCI Health Lucas Puttock, DO - UCI Health Jeffrey Wong, MD - UCI Health Chalat Rajaram, MD - VITAS Healthcare, UCI Health Volunteer Adam Kendall, MD - VITAS Healthcare, UCI Health Volunteer Bishen Bedi, MD - VITAS Healthcare, UCI Health Volunteer Ala Arafa-Price, MD - VITAS Healthcare, UCI Health Volunteer Lara Weiss, MD - VA Long Beach, UCI Health Volunteer Kara Kerns, MD - Hoag, UCI Health Volunteer Samantha Lau, MD – Hoag, UCI Health Volunteer Amy Sun, MD – VA Long Beach, UCI Health Volunteer Fellow Benefits Salary: July 2023- June 2024: $89,969* *Increase in salary scale of 3% each year Educational Stipend: Fees for conferences and educational materials covered Monthly Meal Allowance: July 2023- June 2024: $120/month UCI Health Wellness Program: Support services available for employee wellness, financial resources, events, and programs, as well as community involvement opportunities. Visit here for more information. White Coats Each fellow will be provided 2 white coats. The fellowship will also provide a service for whitecoat dry cleaning. How to Apply Two fellows are accepted for the Hospice and Palliative Medicine fellowship program, which begins July 1st each year. Applicants must apply through the ERAS Fellowships Documents Office. The program will gain access to applications July 19, 2023. Per the board requirements, we accept applicants from the following specialties: Internal Medicine Family Medicine Physical Medicine and Rehabilitation Psychiatry Neurology Anesthesiology Surgery Pediatrics Child Neurology Radiation Oncology Emergency Medicine Radiology Obstetrics and Gynecology Applicants are expected to provide (3) letters of recommendation from: A palliative care or hospice physician A letter from a supervisor (i.e. Program Director, supervisor, attending) A letter of your choice (i.e. Palliative Care Social Worker, Nurse, or PharmD) Medical Licensure: Applicants should ensure that they are eligible for medical licensure in the state of California prior to applying. Requirements can be found on the Medical Board of California or Osteopathic Medical Board of California websites. Visa Status: J-1 only Interview Schedule: Tuesdays/Thursdays from August-October All interviews will be conducted via Zoom. Early submission is recommended as interview slots may be filled prior to application deadlines. Current & Past Fellows 2023 - 2024 Kassandra King, DO Geriatric Medicine (Family Medicine), University of California, Irvine Currently: UCI Hospice & Palliative Medicine Fellow Jack Sun, DO Emergency Medicine, Texas Tech University Health Sciences Center, El Paso, TX Currently: UCI Hospice & Palliative Medicine Fellow 2022 – 2023 Allen Yang, DO Emergency Medicine, University of California, Irvine Currently: Emergency Medicine Physician and Palliative Care Physician at City of Hope, Duarte, CA Swapna Phadnis, MD Family Medicine, Presbyterian Intercommunity Hospital, Whittier, CA Currently: UCI Hospice & Palliative Medicine Fellow 2021 – 2022 Ateena Pirverdian, DO Internal Medicine, University of California, Irvine Currently: Inpatient Palliative Care Attending at Cedars-Sinai, Los Angeles, CA Simeon Koh, MD Internal Medicine, Harbor UCLA, Torrance, CA Currently: Palliative Care Physician at PIH Health, Whittier, CA 2020 – 2021 Ala Arafa-Price, MD Family Medicine, Kaiser Permanente Southern California, Riverside Currently: Hospice Physician, VITAS OC; Volunteer Physician, UCI Health, CA Mukti Patel, MD Internal Medicine, University of California, Irvine Currently: Palliative Care Physician at Kaiser, Fontana, CA 2019 – 2020 Joshua Lee, DO Pediatric Medicine, Loma Linda, CA Currently: Palliative Care Physician at Providence Sacred Heart Medical Center & Children's Hospital, Spokane, WA 2018 – 2019 Diana Naderi, MD Family Medicine, Dignity Health Northridge Hospital, Northridge, CA Currently: Medical Director, VITAS, Los Angeles, CA Robert Nguyen, MD Internal Medicine, Brookdale University Hospital and Medical Center, Brooklyn, NY Currently: Medical Director, VITAS OC; Volunteer Physician, UCI Health, CA 2017 – 2018 Amrita Sabharwal, MD Internal Medicine, Maimonides Medical Center, Brooklyn, NY Currently: Palliative Care Attending, Yuma, AZ 2016 – 2017 Matthew Janssen, MD Emergency Medicine, University of California, Irvine Currently: Palliative Care Medical Director, Memorial Care, CA Ronald McCowan, MD Cardiology/Electrophysiology, Cleveland Clinic Foundation, Cleveland, OH Internal Medicine, White Memorial Medical Center, Los Angeles, CA Currently: Medical Director of Inpatient Palliative Care, UCR, Riverside, CA 2015 – 2016 Asher Edwards, DO Internal Medicine, Harbor UCLA, Torrance, CA Currently: Hospice/Palliative Care Physician, Kaiser, Baldwin Park, CA Kenneth Kim, MD Emergency Medicine, University of California, Irvine Currently: Hospice/Palliative Care & ED Physician, Kaiser, San Francisco, CA Nicole Shirilla, MD Family Medicine, University of California, Irvine Currently: Assistant Professor, Palliative Care, Colombus, OH 2011 – 2012 Jamie Capasso Fertal, DO Internal Medicine, Banner Good Samaritan Medical Center, Phoenix, AZ Currently: Medical Director of Out-patient Palliative Care, St Jospeh, Orange, CA 2005 – 2007 Shiho Ito, MD Family Medicine, University of California, Irvine Currently: Clinical Professor, Palliative Services, UCI Health, CA Stay Connected UCI Hospitalist YouTube Channel Overview of the UCI Medical Center, Graduate Medical Education and past Fellow testimonials. Get In Touch Contact Deborah Tsai, Hospice and Palliative Medicine Fellowship Coordinator, for more information. Email: deborat@hs.uci.edu Phone: 714-456-5726