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.

Apply by March 1, 2026 and enroll in Fall 2026 classes in order to receive a one-time $500 scholarship.
 

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 $1,190 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.

If you apply by March 1, 2026, your application will be evaluated immediately after your required materials have been submitted – that means the sooner you apply, the sooner you’ll know if you’re admitted! You will also be eligible for a $500 scholarship if you are admitted and enroll in Fall 2026 courses!

Applications submitted after May 1, 2026, will be considered until the cohort is filled. Once the cohort is filled, we will put all other eligible students on a waitlist.