Hospice and Palliative APP Fellowship | Emory School of Medicine

About the Program

Welcome to the Emory Hospice & Palliative Advance Practice Provider (APP) Fellowship. Our program is a joint venture between the Emory University School of Medicine and Emory Healthcare. The cohort of APP and physician fellows will train together, along with the larger interdisciplinary teams at our various clinical sites.

The goal of the fellowship is to train clinicians who will be leaders in Palliative Medicine clinical care, research/quality improvement, and education. The physician fellowship was started in 2010 by Dr. Tammie Quest, a national leader in palliative care education and research. The APP fellowship is tentatively set to launch the inaugural cohort in July 2022, led by Courtney Cawthon, a fellowship-trained and certified hospice and palliative care nurse practitioner, with experience as the lead APP for the Emory Palliative Care Center.

We welcome fellows from varied backgrounds, including new graduate PAs and acute care NPs, as well as those who are interested in transitioning from another area of practice into palliative care and hospice.

Over the course of the one-year training program, our fellows will receive comprehensive training in palliative care, learning from various disciplines within the field (Social Work, Spiritual Health, APPs, and Physicians), and across the spectrum from outpatient to inpatient palliative care, as well as home and inpatient hospice. Clinical skills will be integrated with educational sessions (as both learner and teacher) to further refine expertise in the field and grow quality improvement and research interests. Mentorship will be provided along the way as fellows develop into subject-matter experts and continue pursuits as lifelong learners.

Thank you for taking the time to visit us today. We encourage you to learn more about us and envision how fellowship training at Emory might be the perfect fit for your next educational experience.

APP Fellowship Committee

Courtney Cawthon, NP

Shella Chawda

Patricia Miller, PA

Lisa Ko

Jimi Malik MD

Jabeen Taj MD

Curriculum

The curriculum is centered on ensuring the fellow meets certain competencies:

Competencies

Patient care
Medical knowledge
Practice-based learning and improvement
Interpersonal and communication skills
Professionalism and systems-based practice.

Educational activities

Tuesday academic half-day (conference, journal club, grand rounds, etc.)
Case presentations
QI project
Book club
Resilience training

Rotations

Various Emory hospitals (inpatient palliative care)
Supportive care clinic (outpatient palliative care)
Inpatient and home hospice
Anesthesia pain
Critical Care
Oncology
Pediatrics
Geriatrics and/or Hospital Medicine

Applications and Interviews

Program dates

July 1 - June 30, yearly

Applications open

November - February

Eligibility

Completion of an accredited PA or adult acute care NP master's program*
National board certification as a PA or NP*
GA licensure as a PA or RN and NP*
DEA licensure*
Acceptable background check
BLS*

*These items must be completed as soon as possible, no later than 6-8 weeks prior to starting date of fellowship; may not be completed at the time of application.

Application Components

Completed application (check back next year)
Curriculum Vitae (Word or PDF)
Upload a one-page Statement of Interest in postgraduate fellowship training in palliative care (Word or PDF)
Copy of your BLS certification card or certificate
Recent headshot, or professional in nature photograph (jpeg format*) – optional
Additional Requirements:
- Three current written Letters of Recommendation should be sent from the reference to the APP Fellowship Program email.
- If selected as a fellow, your references may get an additional form during credentialing
  *Please have all Letters of Recommendation sent as a PDF attachment*

New Graduates with no PA/NP work experience

New Graduates with no PA/NP work experience must submit the following recommendations:

One from a physician with an active medical license
One letter from a faculty member of your graduate program
Someone of your choice (APP preceptor, mentor, etc.)

New Graduates with PA/NP work experience

Those with prior PA/NP work experience must submit the following recommendations:

One from a physician with an active medical license
One from a peer (NP, PA, Clinical Nurse, or another professional colleague)
One from someone of your choice (RN manager, clinical supervisor, program faculty, research/committee colleague, etc.)

2022-2023 Cohort

Interviews will be conducted on a rolling basis.
1-2 Fellows will be accepted per cohort
Applicants will be notified of their acceptance no later than February 28