Palliative Care Fellowship Program Overview
Support people and caregivers facing serious and life-limiting illnesses. The Community Hospice and Palliative Medicine (CHPM) Fellowship is designed to help mid-career providers obtain training while continuing to live and work in their communities using online distance learning technology. This fellowship helps students become board eligible as physicians in hospice and palliative medicine. It can be completed over a two-year period that partially overlaps with the Master of Science in Palliative Care (MSPC) program.
Program at a Glance
Degree Program:
Community Hospice and Palliative Medicine Fellowship
Offered By:
Graduate School
Tuition:
Cost Per Credit:
$1155*
*2024-2025 Tuition
Cost Per Credit:
$1155*
*2024-2025 Tuition
Application Deadline:
Credit Hours:
40
Community Hospice and Palliative Medicine Fellowship Program Details
Walk with people and caregivers through chronic and life-limiting illnesses as you learn to integrate both biomedical and psycho-social-spiritual perspectives into a holistic care plan. The CHPM Fellowship is an ACGME-certified palliative care fellowship in which physicians may become board-eligible in hospice and palliative medicine.
Students must be enrolled in the online MSPC program to apply for the fellowship program; they will complete both programs over the course of their palliative care education. The master's program overlaps with the two-year fellowship and includes a clinical component within a palliative care or hospice setting. Students are expected to work with their home institution and the CHPM Fellowship leadership to secure a learning agreement (PLA) prior to beginning the fellowship.
The CHPM program at CU Anschutz not only gave me the mechanism to achieve my dream of board certification, but also it deepened my knowledge and provided me with practical experience that has allowed me to excel in the field of hospice and palliative medicine.
Jeff Sung, MD, MSPC '23
CHPM Fellowship '24
Fellowship Eligibility
Physicians who are interested in the fellowship start by enrolling in the Master of Science in Palliative Care (MSPC) program at the University of Colorado Anschutz Medical Campus, which is offered fully online. After completing the first 15 credits of the MSPC program, physicians can then apply to the CHPM Fellowship, where they will build a clinical portfolio. Successful completion of both the MSPC and CHPM Fellowship are required to become board eligible.
Fellowship Components Overview
The CHPM Fellowship is comprised of a seminar, portfolio and clinical work in your community.
Seminar
In the seminar, you will submit written workups of your patients, work on video assignments to develop and improve communication and assessment skills, and complete assigned readings. Faculty will provide feedback and mentoring online. These clinical experiences will come from your own practice in your community. Every two weeks during a video conference with the faculty, you will orally present cases, receive feedback, hear other fellows’ cases and discuss the online content.
Portfolio
Your portfolio will include your clinical experiences with feedback, patient logs and 360 evaluations from your clinical sites, as well as selected items from the MSPC, like quality improvement projects. At the end of each semester, fellows will present their portfolios to the Clinical Competency Committee (CCC) which evaluates all CHPM fellows using the recently approved CHPM Milestones.
Clinical Work
Complete your clinical work off campus in your community. The CHPM Fellowship allows mid-career physicians interested in palliative care to get clinical experience within a palliative care or hospice setting. You will be expected to work with your home institution and leadership for the CHPM Fellowship to secure a prior learning agreement (PLA) before starting the fellowship.
Board-Approved
This program has been approved by the Accreditation Counsel for Graduate Medical Education (ACGME), American Board of Internal Medicine (ABIM), American Board of Family Medicine (ABFM) and other supporting boards as a demonstration project. Fellows who successfully complete the CHPM Fellowship will be eligible to take the Hospice & Palliative Care Certification Exam.
Palliative Medicine Fellowship Completion Time
The 40-credit-hour CHPM Fellowship is approximately two years long and overlaps partially with the MSPC program, which is 33 credit hours and can be completed in 2 to 7 years. With the maximum course load, the MSPC program can be completed in 22 months.
Thank you so much for creating this program. I am consistently in awe of how much this inspires and moves me. The mix in the classes between facts and feelings is perfect and keeps me engaged.
— Misty Lahti | MS in Palliative Care Student
Tuition and Fees
Tuition and fees are based largely on the degree program you enroll in. Currently, the fellowship program's tuition rate is $1,155 per credit hour. The fellowship does not have an in-state tuition rate for Colorado residents.
Admissions Information
To learn more about admissions requirements for CU Anschutz, please visit the graduate student admissions page.
MS in Palliative Care Application Deadlines
FALL 2025
APPLICATION OPENS
September 3, 2024
FALL 2025
PRIORITY DEADLINE
April 1, 2025
FALL 2025
FINAL DEADLINE
May 1, 2025
Apply by April 1, 2025 and enroll in Fall 2025 classes in order to receive a one-time $500 scholarship.
Palliative Care Information Sessions
Gather all the information you need to take your next steps in one of our information sessions. Information sessions are offered virtually at various times each month.
Each session will give you the opportunity to ask questions about the format, curriculum, outcomes, and more with time for Q&A. You'll also meet some of the palliative care faculty members. This is an excellent, no-pressure way to see if the palliative care graduate programs are right for you and learn how continuing your education could fit into your life.
Your application fee will be waived if you attend an information session! Currently, the application fee is $50 for domestic applicants and $75 for international applicants.
Take the Next Step
Find the support and flexibility you need to earn your Master of Science in Palliative Care degree at the University of Colorado. Our team is here to help you take the next steps and see the possibilities in yourself, your future, and your education.
Rise to new heights. Start today by filling out the form on this page.
Frequently Asked Questions
No, the MSPC program is offered online, and the CHPM fellowship components are completed online with the exception of the clinical experience, which is satisfied in your home community. The first year (MSPC Year 1) includes a three-day virtual synchronous intensive in late September. The second year (MSPC Year 2) has an additional three-day virtual synchronous intensive in early August the summer between first and second year.
The MSPC program at CU Anschutz was the first master’s degree in palliative care offered in the United States. Our faculty are experts in their fields with real-world experience in palliative care, including physicians, physician assistants, nurses, social workers, psychologists, spiritual care providers, and pharmacists.
Our palliative care programs are truly interdisciplinary, meaning you’ll learn alongside students in other professions with their own unique perspectives on palliative care. Learning online also gives you the flexibility to balance other commitments with your studies and immediately begin integrating what you learn into your current workplace.
Yes, physicians may use the MSPC with the Community Hospice and Palliative Medicine Fellowship program to become board eligible. The fellowship must be applied to separately from the MSPC program.
Typically, information sessions for each professional group are offered once a month in the fall and spring. It is free to register for an information session and can give you an opportunity to learn about faculty, ask questions, and investigate whether the program is right for you. If you attend an information session, your application fee will be waived.
The CHPM Fellowship is approved for upwards of 16 slots per cohort (32 total). Students must demonstrate ability to thrive in the online and distance learning environment of the MSPC program to be competitive for the fellowship.
The fellowship program, along with the MSPC program, has a variety of activities for students, including new patient consultations, continuity of care, hospice care, pediatric palliative care, seminars, professional development reflections, and more.
Learn more about the fellowship program’s clinical and scholarly activities during a free information session. All registrants will have their application fee waived.
Students must complete a minimum of 80 initial consultations to be submitted and reviewed by faculty over the two-year program. Fellows will orally present a portion of these consultations during the biweekly video seminars.
Learn more about the fellowship program’s clinical and scholarly activities during a free information session. All registrants will have their application fee waived.
There is no exact breakdown on diversity of new patient consultations in the fellowship program, but it is ideal if they represent a mixture of inpatient, outpatient, and telehealth. Some fellows may need to develop relationships to support this in their community.