Curriculum

Subscribe to our mailing list to receive invitations to ECHO sessions.

Upcoming Sessions  

March 22, 2021 - Malignant Bowel Obstruction
Presented by Evgenia Granina, MD, and Sundeep Pandey, MD; VCU Hospice and Palliative Medicine Fellowship

April 26, 2021 - TBD

May 24, 2021 - TBD

June 28, 2021

• Presented by Hospice and Palliative Medicine Fellowship, Carilion Clinic, Virginia Tech

Previous Sessions

2/22/2021 -Total Pain

Presented by Michael Dodson, MD; University of Virginia Palliative Medicine Fellowship

View sessions for CME
View slide presentation

1/25/2021 - Community-based Palliative Care - A Chance to Design Systems That Improve Equity

Presented by Amy Salerno, MD, MHS; University of Virginia Palliative Medicine Fellowship

View sessions for CME
View slide presentation

12/14/2020 - Long-term Complications in COVID-19 Infection (Case Study)

Presented by Justin Van Klein, MD; Fellow, Hospice and Palliative Medicine, Eastern Virginia Medical School

View session for CME
View slide presentation

11/16/2020 - Interventional Blocks in Cancer Pain

Presented by Meghan McAlice, MD and Faten Ragaban, MD: VCU Hospice and Palliative Medicine Fellows

View session for CME
View slide presentation

10/26/2020 - Palliative and End-of-Life in Individuals with Serious Mental Illness

Presented by Carol Zogran, PhD, RN, PMHCNS; Clinical Nurse Specialist, Care Coordination, VCU Health

View session for CME
View slide presentation

9/28/2020 - Palliative Care in COPD: Bridging the Gap

Presented by James O'Connor, MD, Assistant Professor, Pulmonary Disease and Critical Care Medicine

View session for CME
View slide presentation
Further reading

8/24/2020 - Systemic Racism in Healthcare

Presented by Sheryl L. Garland, MHA, FACHE, Chief of Health Impact for VCU Health System and Jason Callahan, M.Div., MS, BCC, Palliative Care Chaplain

View session for CME
View slide presentation
Further reading

7/27/2020 - Palliative Care in ESRD

Presented by Jason Kidd, MD

View session for CME
View slide presentation 

6/22/2020 - Substance Abuse in Palliative Medicine

Presented by Alina Fomovska, MD; University of Virginia

View session for CME
View slide presentation 

5/18/2020 - Document Review and Horror Stories

Presented by Candace Blades, JD, RN

View session for CME
View slide presentation

4/27/2020 - Creutzfeldt-Jakob Disease in Palliative Care

Presented by Jerry McQuain, MD

View session for CME
View slide presentation

4/13/2020 - Symptom Management for COVID-19

Presented by Danielle Noreika, MD

View session for CME
View slide presentation

3/23/2020 - COVID-19 and Palliative Care

Presented by Danielle Noreika, MD and Candace Blades, JD, RN

View session for CME
View slide presentation

2/24/2020 - Communication in Serious Illness: Part I

Presented by Danielle Noreika, MD, Candace Blades, JD, RN and Emily Rivet, MD

View session for CME
View slide presentation

1/27/2020 - Severe depression at end of life: is mental illness ever a terminal disorder?

Presented by Paul Zelensky, Hospice and Palliative Medicine Fellow, Class of 2020

View session for CME

12/12/19 - Five Key Takeaways from the Center to Advance Palliative Care (CAPC) National Seminar

Presented by J. Brian Cassel, PhD; Danielle Noreika, MD

02/14/19 - Introduction to Palliative and Supportive Care
Presented by Danielle Noreika, MD
Learning Objectives:

• Define palliative care and differentiate from hospice.
• Describe reasons for referral to palliative care.
• Describe basic structure of palliative care team.

View session for CME
View slide presentation

02/28/19 - Surgical Palliative Care
Presented by Emily Rivet, MD
Learning Objectives:

• Define surgical palliative care.
• Compare considerations in palliative patients undergoing surgery.
• Highlight surgical challenges in palliative patients.

View session for CME
View slide presentation
Further reading

03/14/19 - Basics of Advance Care Planning
Presented by Candace Blades, RN, JD
Learning Objectives:

• Define advance care planning.
• Overview of legal documents in advance care planning.
• Tools to help your patients complete an advance care plan.

View session for CME
View slide presentation

03/28/19 - Basics of Cancer Pain Management
Presented by Egidio DelFabbro, MD
Learning Objectives:

• Define basic evaluation of pain assessment in cancer patients.
• Differentiate cancer pain from non-cancer pain assessment.
• Define broad strategies of cancer pain management.

View session for CME
View slide presentation
Further reading

04/11/19 - Pediatric Palliative Care
Presented by Kelly Lastrapes, MD and Amanda Gideon, Peds Palliative NP
Learning Objectives:

• Define the pediatric palliative care patient population.
• Define the difference between hospice and palliative care in pediatrics.
• Describe reasons for referral to pediatric palliative care.

View session for CME
View slide presentation
Further reading

04/25/19 - Safety in Opioid Use in Serious Illness
Presented by Egidio DelFabbro, MD
Learning Objectives:

• Review risk assessment in opioid prescribing.
• Compare and contrast risk assessment for chronic non-malignant pain to pain management in serious illness.
• Review data for UDS use in serious illness care.

View session for CME
View slide presentation
Further reading

05/09/19 - The Virginia Physician Order for Scope of Treatment (POST)
Presented by Danielle Noreika, MD
Learning Objectives:

• Define the POST form.
• Describe patient care circumstances that apply to the POST form.
• Discuss how to determine the medical care plan with a POST.

View session for CME
View slide presentation
Further reading

05/23/19 - Helping Children of Adult Patients
Presented by Amanda Gideon, CPNP
Learning Objectives:

• Describe how different age groups receive and understand information around serious illness and death.
• Summarize tools to aid in communication to children related to an adult with a serious illness.
• Discuss various methods of memory making for children.

View session for CME
View slide presentation
Further reading

06/13/19 - Mindfulness and Provider Self Care
Presented by Danielle Noreika, MD
Learning Objectives:

• Introduce provider self care.
• Define mindfulness.
• Describe how to integrate mindfulness into a busy practice to support provider self care.

View session for CME

08/08/19 - Methadone Use in Palliative Care
Presented by Egidio Del Fabbro, MD
Learning Objectives:

• Describe how methadone differs from other opioids.
• Discuss how to rotate to methadone from other opioids.
• Discuss instances in which methadone might be considered in first-line therapy in palliative care patients.

View session for CME
View slide presentation
Further reading

08/22/19 - CBD: What You Need to Know
Presented by Aron Lichtman, PhD
Learning Objectives:

• Describe how CBD is derived.
• Define potential scientific basis for clinical efficacy.
• Overview lack of evidence for many clinical scenarios to date.
• Describe cautions in clinical use.

View session for CME
View slide presentation
Further reading - Devane, et al.
Further reading - Gaoni, Mechoulam
Further reading - Herkenham
Further reading - Lee
Further reading - Matsuda
Further reading - Mechoulam, et al.
Further reading - Munro
Further reading - Van Sickle
Further reading - Zendulka, et al.
Further reading for case presentation - Go, et al.
Further reading for case presentation - Liebling, et al.
Further reading for case presentation - Mitchell, et al.
Further reading for case presentation - Puntillo, et al.
Further reading for case presentation - Sager, et al.

09/12/19 - Outpatient Palliative Care
Presented by Brian Cassel, PhD
Learning Objectives:

• Describe the necessary partnerships with referrers and other community services to build a successful outpatient program.
• Select appropriate measures for evaluating an outpatient palliative care program.
• Integrate patient and stakeholder needs into a business plan for an outpatient program.

View session for CME
View slide presentation
Further reading list

09/26/19 - All of Your Patients are Delirious: What to do about it
Presented by Egidio Del Fabbro, MD
Learning Objectives:

• Define delirium.
• Overview tools of delirium screening.
• Overview of management strategies for delirium.

View session for CME
View slide presentation
Further reading list
Further reading -

10/10/19 - Getting Through to Physicians Resistant to Consulting Palliative Care
Presented by Emily Rivet, MD
Learning Objectives:

• Assess gaps in consult volumes from palliative-relevant populations.
• Discuss evidence on barriers to consulting palliative care.
• Describe rapport-building approaches for multiple disciplines.

View session for CME
View slide presentation
Further reading - Rivet, et al. and Kotter, et al.

10/24/19 - Palliative Radiation
Presented by Christopher McLaughlin, MD
Learning Objectives:

• Brief overview of radiation techniques.
• Overview of symptoms that may be relieved by radiation.
• Brief overview of relevant literature to treatment of symptoms with palliative radiation.

View session for CME
View slide presentation
Further reading - Memantine Study
Further reading - Patchell Cord
Further reading - Quartz Whole Brain
Further reading - Bone mets

11/14/19 - Existential and Spiritual Assessments
Presented by Jason Callahan, MDiv.
Learning Objectives:

• Identify existential distress in patients, families and caregivers.
• Select appropriate interventions in addressing existential distress.
• Discuss grief and bereavement issues.

View session for CME
View slide presentation
Further reading - Bereavement follow up form guidelines for completion
Further reading - Bereavement follow up form template
Further reading - Bereavement booklet