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News & Events
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Subspecialty Status for Palliative Medicine
October 2006
The field of hospice and palliative medicine has obtained formal recognition as a medical subspecialty.
This achievement ensures that all physicians are trained in the principles and practices of palliative care, including communication and teamwork skills, which are key to effective patient- and family-centered care.
As is customary in the development of medical subspecialties, official action was taken by the professional self-governing bodies of organized medicine:
Recognition of palliative medicine as a subspecialty will:
- Assure standards of care.
- Encourage more physicians to enter the field.
- Guarantee the future of research to extend and refine the knowledge base of the field.
Palliative care often is closely associated with hospice care, which is when all care focuses on symptom control and enhancing quality of life, and when death is the expected outcome.
Palliative care, however, is broader than that—it is a continuum of care that can begin any time a patient is confronted with a life-threatening or life-challenging illness. Palliative care occurs simultaneously with treatments that have cure and recovery as their goal.
As general healthcare more fully incorporates the principles of palliative care, healthcare will improve for all consumers, whether they face a serious illness, chronic condition or the end of life.
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