NYU Langone’s Division of Geriatric Medicine and Palliative Care offers various training programs, including a selective for medical students and electives for residents, as well as opportunities for research.

Palliative Care Education for Medical Students

We offer a four-week Selective in Palliative Care and Clinical Ethics for third- and fourth-year students at NYU Grossman School of Medicine. Students develop essential clinical and communication skills needed to assess and manage the physical, social, psychological, and spiritual needs of patients in hospice and palliative medicine settings. Students learn how these needs vary depending on a patient’s age, disease, cultural background, and location of care.

In addition to palliative care principles, the selective also emphasizes bioethics cases and concepts. Didactic training is integral to this selective and includes participation in conferences and rounds held at the rotation sites, as well as a separate didactic series tailored to meet the learning needs of the students.

During the four-week selective, students rotate with palliative care teams at two of the following sites: NYC Health + Hospitals/Bellevue, VA NY Harbor Healthcare System, and NYU Langone’s Tisch Hospital and Kimmel Pavilion.

We also offer a two-week preceptorship in palliative care for interested NYU Grossman School of Medicine students.

Palliative Care Electives for Residents

In addition to the mandatory one-week palliative care rotation that is a part of NYU Grossman School of Medicine’s internal medicine intern year, we offer two-week electives in both inpatient and outpatient palliative care. We also have interns, residents, and fellows from other departments and divisions who rotate on our palliative care services as part of their training.

Inpatient Palliative Care Elective

We offer a two-week palliative care elective to residents who have an interest in caring for people with a serious illness. Residents learn the principles of pain and symptom management, communication, and psychosocial–spiritual care. Most of the time in this elective is spent with the inpatient service.

Outpatient Supportive Care Elective

In the outpatient supportive care elective, residents work with interdisciplinary palliative care teams at the VA NY Harbor Healthcare System, Bellevue, Tisch Hospital, Kimmel Pavilion, and Perlmutter Cancer Center. This two-week elective exposes residents to diverse medical diagnoses, medical research, and the field of palliative care, also known as supportive care.

Palliative Care Research Opportunities

We have a plethora of opportunities for medical students and residents to get involved in palliative care research projects with our division mentors.

Contact Us

For more information about the palliative care medical student selective, the preceptorship in palliative care, and the inpatient palliative care resident rotation, please contact Susan E. Cohen, MD, course director, at susan.cohen@nyulangone.org or 212-562-5250. You can also contact Lissa Lefevre, fellowship coordinator, at lissa.lefevre@nyulangone.org or 212-263-6613.

For more information about the outpatient palliative care resident rotation, please contact Joseph Lowy, MD, course director, at joseph.lowy@nyulangone.org, or Louise de Silva, program coordinator, at louise.desilva@nyulangone.org or 646-501-4160.

For more information about palliative care research opportunities for medical students and residents, please contact Jennifer S. Scherer, MD , at jennifer.scherer@nyulangone.org.