Community Hospice and Palliative Medicine Fellowship
Request Information
Palliative Care Fellowship Program Overview
Support people and caregivers facing serious and life-limiting illnesses. The Community Hospice and Palliative Medicine (CHPM) Fellowship is designed to help mid-career professionals obtain training while continuing to live and work in their communities using online distance learning technology. This fellowship helps students become board eligible as physicians in hospice and palliative medicine. It can be completed over a two-year period that partially overlaps with the Master of Science in Palliative Care (MSPC) program.
Please note: Admission to the MSPC does not guarantee admission to the CHPM Fellowship. Each program has a separate application, review, and selection process.
Program at a Glance
-
Tuition In-State$1,226*Per Credit*2026-2027 Tuition. Subject to change.
-
Tuition Out-of-State$1,226*Per Credit*2026-207 Tuition. Subject to change.
-
Application DeadlineFeb. 15 Priority; April 15 Final
-
Credit Hours40
-
Time To Completion24 Months
-
Format100% Online
-
Student:Faculty Ratio2:1
-
AccreditationACGME-accredited training program
Community Hospice and Palliative Medicine Fellowship Program Details
Walk with people and caregivers through chronic and life-limiting illnesses as you learn to integrate both biomedical and psycho-social-spiritual perspectives into a holistic care plan. The CHPM Fellowship is an ACGME-certified palliative care fellowship in which physicians may become board-eligible in hospice and palliative medicine.
Students must be enrolled in the CU Anschutz online MSPC program to apply for the fellowship program; they will complete both programs over the course of their palliative care education. The two-year fellowship overlaps with the master’s program and includes a clinical component within a palliative care or hospice setting. Students are expected to work with their home institution and the CHPM Fellowship leadership to secure a learning agreement (PLA) prior to beginning the fellowship.
Jeff Sung, MD MS Palliative Care Alumni
Fellowship Eligibility
Physicians who are interested in the fellowship start by enrolling in the Master of Science in Palliative Care (MSPC) program at the University of Colorado Anschutz, which is offered fully online. In the first semester of the MSPC program, physicians can apply to the CHPM Fellowship, where they will build a clinical portfolio. Successful completion of both the MSPC and CHPM Fellowship are required to become board eligible.
Fellowship Components Overview
The CHPM Fellowship, done in conjunction with the MSPC, includes biweekly seminars, building a clinical portfolio and doing clinical work in your local community.
Seminar
In the biweekly seminars that span 2 years, you will submit written workups of your patients, work on video assignments to develop and improve communication and assessment skills, and complete assigned readings and other assignments. Faculty will provide feedback and mentoring online. The clinical experiences that help you build your patient portfolio will come from your own practice in your community. In addition, every two weeks during a video conference with the faculty, you will present cases orally, receive feedback, hear other fellows’ cases and discuss the online content.
Portfolio
Your portfolio will include your clinical experiences with feedback, patient logs, 360 evaluations from your colleagues at clinical sites, patient family evaluations, as well as selected items from the MSPC/CHPM, like quality improvement projects or journal club assignments. At the end of each semester, fellows will present their portfolios to the Clinical Competency Committee (CCC) which evaluates all CHPM fellows using the recently approved AAHPM Milestones and Entrustable professional activities.
Clinical Work
You will for the most part, complete your clinical work off campus in your community (some exceptions like pediatrics, may be done at different sites). The CHPM Fellowship allows mid-career physicians interested in palliative care to get clinical experience within a palliative care or hospice setting. You will be expected to work with your home institutions and leadership for the CHPM Fellowship to secure a program letter of agreement (PLA) with each site before starting the fellowship. CHPM leadership will offer support and experience in this endeavor.
Board-Approved
This program has been approved by the Accreditation Counsel for Graduate Medical Education (ACGME), American Board of Internal Medicine (ABIM), American Board of Family Medicine (ABFM) and other supporting boards as a demonstration project. Fellows who successfully complete the CHPM Fellowship will be eligible to take the Hospice & Palliative Care Certification Exam.
Palliative Medicine Fellowship Completion Time
The 40-credit-hour CHPM Fellowship is approximately two years long and can overlap partially with the MSPC program, which is 33 credit hours and can be completed in 2 to 7 years. With the standard course load, the MSPC program can be completed in 22 months.
Tuition and Fees
Tuition and fees are based largely on the degree program you enroll in. Currently, the fellowship program's tuition rate is $1,226 per credit hour. The fellowship does not have an in-state tuition rate for Colorado residents.
Admissions Information
To learn more about admissions requirements for CU Anschutz, please visit the graduate student admissions page.
Applications submitted after April 15 will be considered until the cohort is filled. Once the cohort is filled, we will put all other eligible students on a waitlist.
Fall 2027
- September 1
- Feb. 15
- April 15
Palliative Care Information Sessions
Gather all the information you need to take your next steps in one of our information sessions. Information sessions are offered virtually at various times each month.
Each session will give you the opportunity to ask questions about the format, curriculum, outcomes, and more. You can also meet some of the palliative care faculty members. This is an excellent, no-pressure way to see if the palliative care graduate programs are right for you and learn how continuing your education could fit into your life.
Frequently Asked Questions (FAQs)
-
No, the MSPC program is offered online, and the CHPM fellowship components are completed online with the exception of the clinical experience, which is satisfied in your home community. The first year (MSPC Year 1) includes a three-day virtual synchronous intensive in late September. The second year (MSPC Year 2) has an additional three-day virtual synchronous intensive in early August the summer between first and second year.
-
The MSPC program at CU Anschutz was the first master's degree in palliative care offered in the United States. Our faculty are experts in their fields with real-world experience in palliative care, including physicians, physician assistants, nurses, social workers, psychologists, spiritual care providers, and pharmacists. Our palliative care programs are truly interdisciplinary, meaning you'll learn alongside students in other professions with their own unique perspectives on palliative care. Learning online also gives you the flexibility to balance other commitments with your studies and immediately begin integrating what you learn into your current workplace.
-
Yes, physicians may use the MSPC with the Community Hospice and Palliative Medicine Fellowship program to become board eligible. The fellowship must be applied to separately from the MSPC program.
-
Gather all the information you need to take your next steps in one of our information sessions. Information sessions are offered virtually at various times each month. Each session will give you the opportunity to ask questions about the format, curriculum, outcomes, and more. Register for an information session here or you can watch a recorded information session.
-
The CHPM Fellowship is approved for upwards of 16 slots per cohort (32 total). Students must demonstrate ability to thrive in the online and distance learning environment of the MSPC program to be competitive for the fellowship.
-
The fellowship program, along with the MSPC program, has a variety of activities for students, including new patient consultations, continuity of care, hospice care, pediatric palliative care, seminars, professional development reflections, and more.
-
Students must complete a minimum of 80 initial consultations to be submitted and reviewed by faculty over the two-year program. Fellows will orally present a portion of these consultations during the biweekly video seminars.
-
There is no exact breakdown on diversity of new patient consultations in the fellowship program, but it is ideal if they represent a mixture of inpatient, outpatient, and telehealth. Some fellows may need to develop relationships to support this in their community.
-
Unfortunately, physicians do not receive CME credit while participating in the programs.
-
Diplomates from the following Qualifying Boards may apply for Hospice and Palliative Medicine Certification through ABIM:
The American Board of Obstetrics and Gynecology (ABOG),
the American Board of Physical Medicine and Rehabilitation (ABPMR),
the American Board of Psychiatry and Neurology (ABPN),
the American Board of Radiology (ABR), and
the American Board of Surgery (ABS) and other ABMS surgical -
The Hospice & Palliative Medicine Certification Program is co-sponsored by the
American Board of Internal Medicine (ABIM),
the American Board of Anesthesiology (ABA),
the American Board of Emergency Medicine (ABEM),
the American Board of Family Medicine (ABFM), and
the American Board of Pediatrics.
CU Anschutz offers flexible and convenient digital learning opportunities. Discover what you can accomplish when you learn from one of the digital education programs at CU Anschutz.