Dear Prospective Candidate for Hospice and Palliative Medicine Fellowship,

I welcome you to our Indiana University School of Medicine Hospice and Palliative Medicine Fellowship website and invite you to apply to our program. All aspects of hospice and palliative medicine have grown considerably over the last 15+ years since our fellowship started in 2005. This means that you will have a well-rounded training experience during your one-year fellowship with a variety of clinical and non-clinical educational experiences. Fellows care for a diverse population that reflects the diversity of the Indianapolis metro area, which is one of the twenty largest cities in the United States. Fellow graduates from our program have come from a range of primary specialties, including internal medicine, emergency medicine, family medicine, pediatrics, and obstetrics-gynecology and practice in a variety of settings after fellowship.

We seek a diverse range of candidates for our fellowship, and especially encourage those candidates who come from backgrounds underrepresented in medicine to apply to our program. In our patient population, we often see the short- and long-term impacts of American societal inequities both within our healthcare system as well as our broader communities. Although we all strive for cultural humility and excellence in the care of our patients, we recognize that everyone benefits from having a physician workforce which matches the diversity of our population. This is most true for patients and families who are at one of the most vulnerable times of life when experiencing a serious illness. At the school-wide and Department of Medicine levels, an array of diversity and inclusion activities are ongoing. I invite you to learn more through perusing our school’s diversity information.

Although it was clear before the pandemic, COVID has highlighted the need for high-touch, compassionate, and skillful palliative care. We look forward to being part of your career journey!

Lyle Fettig, MD
Program Director, Hospice and Palliative Medicine Fellowship