Program Highlights
- Combines faculty from two academic palliative care programs: Columbia University Irving Medical Center’s Palliative Care Service and the Division of Geriatrics and Palliative Medicine at Weill Cornell Medicine.
- NewYork-Presbyterian is ranked #4 hospital in the nation and #1 in New York, according to U.S. News & World Report's "Best Hospital" survey.
- Unique palliative care consultation models, including a dedicated ICU team and early intervention consult team.
- Inpatient Calvary hospice program at NewYork-Presbyterian Hospital.
- Individual fellow mentoring and research opportunities, e.g. with the Center for Research on End-of-Life Care and the Translational Research Institute on Pain in Later Life (TRIPLL) both at Weill Cornell Medicine, and the Center for Improving Care for Vulnerable Adults with Multiple Chronic Conditions (CIPC) at Columbia School of Nursing.
- Outpatient palliative care clinic integrated within an NCI Cancer Center.
- Exposure to diverse patient populations and cultures in two different neighborhoods in Manhattan (Washington Heights and the Upper East Side).
- Geriatrics training and diactics built into the curriculum.
- GeriTalk Communication Training for HPM fellows provided by trained faculty.
- Monthly narrative medicine sessions through the Department of Medical Humanities and Ethics at Columbia University and the Division of Geriatrics and Palliative Medicine.
- Clinical ethics training with the Chair of the Ethics Committee at Columbia University Irving Medical Center.
- Integration of contemplative care practices and meditation.
- AAHPM membership, conference fees, as well as travel and accommodation expenses to attend the annual AAHPM Assembly Meeting is covered.
About the Program
The NewYork-Presbyterian Hospice and Palliative Medicine Fellowship Program began training leaders in palliative care at the Columbia campus in 2011. Since then the program has grown to a class size of four fellows, and in 2019 was joined by Cornell to form a bi-campus program that incorporates the strengths and opportunities of both medical centers.
NewYork-Presbyterian, with its diversity of clinical training programs, patient populations, faculty, and staff, provides an ideal setting for interdisciplinary interaction and collaboration, as our fellows work with the varied clinical providers who participate in the care of seriously ill adults and children. The year-long fellowship encompasses the medical, psychosocial, ethical, existential, and spiritual domains of Hospice and Palliative Medicine. We are committed to the excellence and preparation of future leaders in the clinical, educational, policy, and research areas of Hospice and Palliative Medicine.
Clinical Training
Rotation site
- NewYork-Presbyterian/Columbia University Irving Medical center (CUIMC): Inpatient Consultation, Clinical Ethics, Continuity Clinic
- NewYork-Presbyterian/Weill Cornell Medical Center (WCMC): Inpatient Consultation, Continuity Clinic
- NewYork-Presbyterian Morgan Stanley Children's Hospital (MSCH): Pediatric palliative care
- Calvary Hospital (Bronx): Long-term care rotation/hospice
- VNS Hospice: Manhattan, Brooklyn, and the Bronx
The fellows have an active clinical role at all sites during the fellowship while working with the respective Interdisciplinary Teams (IDTs). One month of elective time is offered to pursue research or additional clinical training. Examples include Clinical Ethics, Radiation Oncology, Integrative therapies, Interventional Pain Medicine, Consultation Psychiatry, Psychology, Neuro-Oncology, Geriatrics, and more. International Electives are also possible — for example, in the Dominican Republic, Uganda, and India.
| Rotations | Blocks (= 4 weeks) |
|---|---|
| Inpatient Consult Service (CUIMC) | 5.5 blocks |
| Inpatient Consult Service (WCMC) | 2 blocks |
| Clinical Ethics (CUIMC) | .5 block |
| Hospice (VNS) | 2.5 blocks |
| Pediatric Palliative Care (MSCH) | .5 block |
| Long Term Care/Hospice (at Calvary Hospital) | 1 block |
| Elective | 1 block |
| Vacation | 4 weeks |
Didactics & educational program
- HPM Fellowshop Core Lecture Series (weekly)
- Journal Club (monthly)
- Departmental Grand Rounds (weekly)
- Hospice and Palliative Medicine Grand Rounds (monthly)
- Bi-campus Case Conferences Columbia and Cornell (quarterly)
- Debriefing and Resiliency Training sessions for our fellows (monthly)
- Narrative Medicine Workshop (monthly)
- We are committed to helping our fellows develop a reflective practice and develop and strengthen their narrative competence. That is, "to recognize, absorb, metabolize, interpret, and be moved by the stories of illness." (Rita Charon)
How to Apply
Our Bi-campus (Columbia and Cornell campuses) HPM fellowship program is listed in ERAS as NewYork-Presbyterian Hospital (Columbia and Cornell Campus) Program — (5403512118)
[Previously, our fellowship program was listed as NewYork-Presbyterian Hospital (Columbia Campus) Program Number 5403504076]
The fellowship is an ACGME approved interdisciplinary fellowship (4 fellows per year) located in both the Department of Medicine at Columbia University Vagelos College of Physicians and Surgeons and in the Division of Geriatrics and Palliative Medicine in the Department of Medicine, Weill Cornell Medicine.
Applicants who have completed (or will complete) an ACGME approved residency in one of the following disciplines are eligible to apply:
- Anesthesiology
- Emergency medicine
- Family medicine
- Internal medicine
- Obstetrics and gynecology
- Pediatrics
- Physical medicine and rehabilitation
- Psychiatry and neurology
- Radiology
- Surgery
Applications are accepted through the Electronic Residency Application Service (ERAS). The following are required for applicants to upload to ERAS: Curriculum vitae, Personal statement, 3 letters of support, Test scores (e.g., United States Medical Licensing Examination or Educational Commission for Foreign Medical Graduates). Fellowship candidates can submit applications to our program in July. We begin reviewing applications in August and invite successful applicants to interview on a rolling basis.
Fellowship Program Director
Dr. Craig D. Blinderman is an Associate Professor of Medicine and the Director of the Adult Palliative Medicine Service at Columbia University Medical Center/New-York Presbyterian Hospital and the Program Director of the Bi-Campus (Columbia and Cornell) Hospice and Palliative Medicine Fellowship. Dr. Blinderman maintains an active inpatient and outpatient palliative medicine clinical practice. His academic and research interests include: decision-making at the end of life, the philosophy of care, medical ethics, and the integration of palliative care in medical education. He also has a strong interest in teaching and developing programs to improve students and residents' skills in communication and care for the dying.
Co-Chief, Weill Cornell Medical Center Division of Geriatric & Palliative Medicine
Dr. Ron Adelman is the Co-Chief of the Division of Geriatrics and Palliative Medicine at the New York-Presbyterian Hospital/Weill Cornell Medical Center. He is the Emilie Roy Corey Professor of Geriatrics and Gerontology. Dr. Adelman is also the Director of the Irving Sherwood Center on Aging, Director of the Center for Aging Research and Clinical Care and directs Adult Palliative Care at New York-Presbyterian/Weill Cornell Medical Center. Dr. Adelman’s research interests are in older patient-physician communication, caregiving, and a range of palliative care topics.
Associate Program Director
Dr. Mary Callahan is an Assistant Professor of Medicine at Columbia University Medical Center. She received her medical degree from Rush Medical College and completed residency training in Internal Medicine at Tulane University School of Medicine. She completed her Hospice and Palliative Medicine fellowship at the University of Pittsburgh Medical Center in 2018. She also received a Master’s Degree in Medical Education from the University of Pittsburgh. Dr. Callahan's clinical time is spent on the inpatient palliative care service at NewYork-Presbyterian/Columbia University Irving Medical Center and providing outpatient palliative care services at Herbert Irving Cancer Center. Her academic interests are focused on teaching communication and primary palliative care skills.
Associate Program Director
Dr. Barton Sanders is Associate Program Director (Cornell) and a graduate of the University of Tennessee Health Science Center. He completed his Internal Medicine residency at the University of Alabama at Birmingham (UAB), and stayed at UAB complete a fellowship in Palliative Medicine. He joined the Cornell Division of Geriatrics and Palliative Medicine where he serves as an attending for the inpatient palliative care consultation service, and also sees patients in the outpatient palliative care practice. His interests include the clinical delivery of palliative care and postgraduate physician education. Dr. Sanders is an associate program director for the Columbia/Cornell Hospice and Palliative Medicine Fellowship.
Fellows
Yasemin Aytaman, MD
HPM Post-Doctoral Clinical Fellow
Dr. Aytaman is a current fellow in the bi-campus hospice and palliative medicine fellowship program at NewYork-Presbyterian/Columbia University Irving Medical Center and NewYork-Presbyterian/Weill Cornell Medical Center. She received her medical degree from St. George’s University School of Medicine in True Blue, Grenada and completed residency training in Internal Medicine at SUNY Downstate Health Sciences University in Brooklyn, New York. Prior to studying medicine, Dr. Aytaman earned a bachelor’s degree in biological sciences and a minor in Chinese language and culture at the University of Massachusetts Amherst, where she spent additional time studying abroad at the Beijing Foreign Studies University in Beijing, China. Her interest in palliative care peaked from an interest in medical ethics and a desire to improve communication between patients, families, and medical teams.
Manuel Moya-Tapia, MD
HPM Clinical Fellow
Dr. Moya is a current fellow in the bi-campus hospice and palliative medicine fellowship program at NewYork-Presbyterian/Columbia University Irving Medical Center and NewYork-Presbyterian/Weill Cornell Medical Center. A native of Lima, Peru, he studied medicine at the Universidad San Martin de Porres. After graduating, he worked at the National Cancer Institute of Peru in oncology clinical research, as well as volunteering in the Peruvian highlands, delivering medical care through an international medical mission with a local religious organization. Dr. Moya later migrated to the United States, where he completed his internal medicine training at Bronx Lebanon Hospital. During his five years at Hartford Hospital, he spent two years in the inpatient oncology unit, where he became keenly aware of the deep suffering and needs of the terminally ill and their families, which lead him to pursue further training in palliative care. He has an interest in the impact of cultural awareness in the care of patients and families, as well as care of under-served populations in palliative care.
Melissa Patterson, MD, MBA
HPM Clinical Fellow
Dr. Patterson is a current hospice and palliative medicine Fellow and just finished her geriatric fellowship training at NewYork-Presbyterian/Weill Cornell Medical School. She is a Long Island native and is excited to be back in New York after completing her family medicine residency in Detroit where she served as chief resident during her final year. Growing up she spent her summers sailing on the Great South Bay, going to car shows throughout the east coast with her family, and visiting her grandparents on Lake Bomoseen in Vermont. Dr. Patterson’s family owns an auto restoration business out in Long Island where she enjoys spending her spare time working on restoring her Triumph. She finished medical school with her MD/MBA and then spent a year teaching clinical medicine skills to 2nd year medical students before starting her residency. During that year she discovered her passion for teaching and medical education research, specifically in the field of spirituality and religion in medicine. Throughout residency that interest continued to grow and developed into a desire to complete her geriatric and palliative medicine fellowship to better understand how to best serve her patients and their families throughout the aging process.
Daniel Shalev, MD
HPM Clinical Fellow
Dr. Shalev graduated Harvard College and attended medical school at Weill Cornell Medicine, where he was inducted into the Alpha Omega Alpha and Gold Humanism Honor societies and earned numerous academic awards. He completed his residency in psychiatry at Columbia, where he also served as chief resident. As a resident, Dan was awarded the American Psychiatric Association’s Leadership Fellowship and Resident Recognition Award, the American College of Psychiatry’s Laughlin Fellowship, and the Academy of Consultation-Liaison Psychiatry’s Webb Fellowship. Following residency, he completed his fellowship in consultation-liaison psychiatry at Columbia prior to serving as one of the current NewYork-Presbyterian bi-campus hospice and palliative medicine fellows.
Dr. Shalev’s clinical and research foci largely center on the integration of mental health and palliative care. He has published and presented widely on his interests including end-of-life care for individuals with serious mental illness, workforce development and models of integrated mental health and serious illness care, and psychological aspects of palliative care. His other interests include neuropsychiatry, medical ethics and humanities, and writing for the lay public. He maintains a strong connection to his psychiatric roots, including moonlighting as an emergency psychiatrist at Columbia’s Comprehensive Psychiatric Emergency Program.
Faculty & Staff
Contact
Adult Palliative Care Service
Columbia University Irving Medical Center
Elizabeth Moreno
Administrative Assistant to Dr. Blinderman and Fellowship Program Coordinator