Implementation and Evaluation of a Pediatric Palliative Care Curriculum for Adult-Track HPM Fellows

Hospice and Palliative Medicine (HPM) fellowship training provides education on caring for patients from early childhood through adulthood. Yet, there are few guidelines about how to teach these key components, and more specifically the components of Pediatric Palliative Care (PPC), to fellows who have a variety of backgrounds prior to entering HPM fellowship.

We created a curriculum in PPC that could be used with adult-track HPM fellows. We developed an outline for material to cover during each of the three weeks of PPC clinical rotations. We also created a longitudinal lecture series encompassing several foundational topics and concepts in PPC. We conducted "Just-in-Time" evaluation of the clinical rotation curriculum utilizing a critical reflection model as well as focus groups with fellows and faculty members to further explore the knowledge, attitudes, and perceptions of the entire PPC curriculum. Transcripts were coded Nvivo and template analysis was used to understand code distribution between and within focus groups.

Eight overarching codes emerged from the focus groups: "Staffing Issues," "Learning Structure," "Useful Material," "Topics Attending Contingent," "Time Management," "Teachable Moment," "Not Useful Material," and "Adherence to Teaching Materials."

The study revealed some limitations in the current curriculum design, such as its lack of consistency. However, it also highlighted several strengths, including the importance of flexibility and personal responsibility for learning. The results provide valuable insights into the experiences among fellows and educators at a single institution with a PPC Curriculum for adult-track HPM fellows.