Hospice and Palliative Medicine Fellowship at The Mount Sinai Hospital

The Brookdale Department of Geriatrics and Palliative Medicine at the Icahn School of Medicine at Mount Sinai offers a unique fellowship to train clinicians and leaders in palliative medicine. Our goal is to create a new generation of palliative care physicians, educators, researchers, policy makers, advocates and innovators  who will lead the improvement of care for patients with serious illness and their families. We offer opportunities for a second research-focused fellowship year to prepare candidates seeking careers as clinician investigators as well as a two-year fellowship track..  We seek applicants from a diverse backgrounds and clinical training experiences.

Through clinical training and a rigorous core curriculum, our palliative medicine fellows develop expertise in assessing and managing the physical, psychological, and spiritual suffering faced by patients with illnesses and their families.  Fellows are exposed to a broad array of palliative care and hospice care settings, including inpatient, outpatient, home-based, and long-term care at the Mount Sinai Hospital and affiliated sites throughout New York City.  At each care setting, fellows work closely with mentors and interdisciplinary team members to develop skills in both primary and consultative practice. In addition to robust clinical experiences, fellows participate in a comprehensive longitudinal core curriculum that offers a breadth of high-quality palliative care  education, intensive communication training (GeriTalk), quality improvement, leadership, and teaching skills training.

Program Highlights

Our program offers a variety of benefits to you as a fellow:

  • Comprehensive curriculum encompassing diverse patient care experiences, resilience and wellness, and teaching and leadership skills
  • One-on-one mentoring from nationally recognized leaders in the field
  • Flexibility to accommodate individual professional interests
  • Board-eligibility for certification in hospice and palliative medicine

Departmental Solidarity Affirmation

The Brookdale Department of Geriatrics and Palliative Medicine at the Mount Sinai Health System stands firm in denouncing all forms of racism, bias, and inequities experienced by our patients, students, trainees, colleagues, and ALL members of our community. 

We condemn these actions, and knowing the trauma they cause, we are committed to: 

  • Foster a learning and working environment that is oriented towards healing and equity.
  • Develop and support interventions that are responsive to all forms of racism and bias.
  • Provide resources to support all members of our community who are impacted by racism and all forms of oppression.

To learn more about Mount Sinai’s commitment to Diversity, Equity, and Inclusion (DEI), please visit: https://unitedinsolidarity.mountsinai.org/. And please contact us to learn about the Brookdale Department’s DEI Initiatives.

How to Apply

We select fellows through the National Residency Match Program. You must submit your application through the Electronic Residency Application Service (ERAS), along with all supporting documents.

To apply or to receive further information, email randy.bradford@mssm.edu or call 212-241-8110.

  • Program Director: Mollie Biewald, MD
  • Associate Program Director: Anup Bharani, MD
  • Program Coordinator: Randy Bradford

For candidates who require visa sponsorship, we participate in both the J-1 and H1-B Visa programs.

Our subspecialty of Hospice and Palliative Medicine has ten parent boards that serve as co-sponsors under the American Board of Medical Specialties.  We recruit applicants who have completed an Accreditation Council for Graduate Medical Education- or American Osteopathic Association-accredited residency program in:

  • Anesthesiology
  • Emergency Medicine
  • Family Medicine
  • Internal Medicine
  • Obstetrics and Gynecology
  • Pediatrics
  • Physical Medicine and Rehabilitation
  • Psychiatry and Neurology
  • Radiology
  • Surgery

Evaluation of Fellows

Within a structured framework, you establish your own goals and objectives, develop an individualized learning plan, and meet with program leadership and mentors to ensure you are making progress toward your learning goals. 

In addition to self-evaluation, you receive continuous feedback throughout your rotations, at the end of each rotation, and twice annually through the Clinical Competency Evaluation.  We use direct observation tools to ensure that you receive targeted feedback on your communication and procedural skills. 

To ensure that our fellowship program continues to be as strong as possible, we seek out feedback on faculty and the program itself:

  • You may formally and informally evaluate your faculty preceptor at the end of each rotation, anonymously. We encourage you to provide feedback as well at the quarterly fellows' meeting.
  • We provide standardized seminar evaluation forms for all in attendance at didactic sessions and Grand Rounds; this information aids us in selecting speakers and topics for future sessions. In addition, you complete a program evaluation form at the end of the training year to provide feedback on your experience and the balance of clinical, teaching, and research commitments.

Fellowship programs we offer:

  • One-year Hospice and Palliative Medicine Fellowship
  • Two-year Hospice and Palliative Medicine Leadership Fellowship
  • Two-year Integrated Geriatrics and Palliative Medicine Fellowship
  • Time-Variable Competency-Based Midcareer Hospice and Palliative Medicine Fellowship
  • Joint Hematology/Oncology and Hospice and Palliative Medicine Fellowship
  • Option for an additional 2nd Year of support for research training – designed for HPM fellows pursuing careers as clinician-investigators