Hospice and Palliative Medicine Fellowship

HPM Fellowship

The one-year Hospice and Palliative Medicine Fellowship program at the University of Minnesota trains our fellows to be expert hospice and palliative medicine (HPM) clinicians who will serve our community with empathy, cultural humility, and intellectual curiosity by caring for those affected by serious illness at all stages and ages as a resilient member of an interprofessional team.

TRAINING

Training includes broad-based exposure to both adult palliative medicine in community and academic settings with well-established interdisciplinary palliative care teams. 

The fellowship is a one-year program accredited by the ACGME and boasts a 100% board pass rate.

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Clinical Settings

University of Minnesota Medical Center

  • Inpatient consult service
  • Quaternary care center
    • ECMO program, LVAD program, BMT, solid organ transplant

Hennepin Healthcare 

  • Hennepin County safety net teaching hospital
  • Serves patients from diverse social, cultural, and economic backgrounds
  • Collaborative interdisciplinary consult team
  • Opportunity to work with other learners

Regions Hospital

  • Inpatient consult service
  • Level 1 trauma center

HealthPartners Hospice

  • Large Hospice

M Health Palliative Care Clinic

  • Fellow continuity clinic in adult track
  • Embedded in the cancer center
  • Referrals from cardiology, pulmonology, and neurology

VA Medical Center

  • Palliative Care Unit
  • Extensive interprofessional team including psychologist and pharmacist

Children’s Hospital and Clinics Minneapolis

  • Established pain and palliative care team
  • Pediatric continuity clinic

Gillette Children’s

Masonic Children’s

Current Fellows

a.breitenbucher

Ada Breitenbucher, MD

Medical School: University of Minnesota Medical School

Residency: Neurology, Barrow Neurological Institute/St. Joseph’s Program

r.fu_carrasco

Roberto Fu Carrasco, MD

Medical School: Universidad de Ciencias Medicas

Residency: Internal Medicine Residency at Hennepin Healthcare

Plaut

Erika Mendoza Plaut, MD

Medical School: Universidad Central de Venezuela Escuela de Medicina

Residency: Pediatric Critical Care, Albert Einstein Medical Center

Politsch

John Politsch, MD

Medical School: Rush Medical College of Rush University Medical Center

Residency: Family Medicine, St. Paul-Ramsey Family Medicine Residency

Chas Salmen, MD

Chas Salem, MD

Medical School: University of California-San Francisco

Residency: Family medicine, University of Minnesota North Memorial Family Medicine Residency

Schaffer

Emma Schaffer, MD

Medical School: University of Minnesota Medical School

Residency: Residency: Surgery, University of Minnesota Surgery Residency Program

Shepherd

Melody Shepherd, MD

Medical School: University of Minnesota Medical School

Residency: Family Medicine, University of Minnesota – Duluth Family Medicine Residency Program

Contact

Mailing address:

420 Delaware Street SE, MMC 381

Minneapolis, MN 5545

Office address:

6-240 Phillips-Wangensteen Building

516 Delaware St SE

Minneapolis, MN 55455

Annette Nijjar, MD

 

 

 

 

Annette Nijjar, MD

Program Director

bloes001@umn.edu

Matt Loosbrock

 

 

 

 

Matt Loosbrock

Program Coordinator

612-624-6998

loosbrom@umn.edu

 

Hospice and palliative medicine fellow graduates and program director

Hospice and Palliative Medicine Fellowship graduates, class of 2023, with Program Director Annette Nijjar, MD (center)

Benefits

The UMN Hospice and Palliative Medicine Fellow Experience

Manuals

U of M Hospice and Palliative Medicine Fellowship fellow with companion animals

Bias Reporting at the University

Submit anonymous incident reports online at BRRN UReport or incident reports can also be sent to endbias@umn.edu.