Fellowship Director’s Welcome

We are pleased that you are interested in the Providence Alaska Hospice and Palliative Medicine Fellowship in Anchorage, Alaska.

Our ACGME-accredited fellowship was established in 2009 and we are associated with the Alaska Family Medicine Residency Program  (http://akfmr.org/). This is a one-year program beginning in July and we accept one fellow per year through the ERAS and NRMP match system. The program includes comprehensive clinical and didactic training in the delivery of palliative care for seriously ill patients of all ages from urban and rural settings across Alaska. The fellow works with our large, growing and well-established interdisciplinary team and will gain the many leadership and teaching skills needed to excel as a physician leader in field of palliative medicine and hospice.

The fellowship program is based at Providence Alaska Medical Center. PAMC is the largest hospital in Alaska (401 bed tertiary care hospital and trauma center) and is part of Providence Health & Services, a large not-for profit healthcare network across AK, WA, OR and CA. PAMC has established clinical educational programs for medical students, residents and fellows, and nurse practitioner students and fellows.

Required rotations 

  • Inpatient Palliative Care
  • Providence Hospice
  • Providence Transitional and Extended Care Center
  • Providence Medical Group, Community Based Specialty Palliative Care Clinic
  • Intensive Care Immersion
  • Elective, Fellow’s Discretion
  • Neonatal, Pediatric, and Perinatal Exposure

Examples of Elective Rotations 

  • Alaska Native Medical Center Palliative Care Department
  • Interventional Pain Management
  • Providence Alaska Medical Center Intensive Care Unit
  • Medical adult and pediatric oncology
  • Radiation Oncology
  • Perinatal Palliative Care
  • Clinical Ethics

Scholarly activities include participation in monthly journal club, weekly didactic lecture series, weekly medical ethics, local and regional conferences and structured teaching opportunities in conjunction with family medicine residents and WWAMI University of Alaska medical students.

Alaska is the Last Frontier and The Land of the Midnight Sun, with stunning mountains and wilderness. With its abundant outdoor recreation, natural beauty, and the warmth of the Alaskan people it is a fabulous place to live and work. Anchorage has a diverse population made up of Alaskan Natives, immigrants and refugees from all over the world, with over 100 languages spoken in our local school district. While the interior of Alaska can get quite cold, coastal Anchorage has surprisingly moderate winter temperatures and hosts an award-winning city-wide trail system with over 120 miles of paved bike and multiuse trail and groomed ski trails in the city itself, as well as family friendly activities year-round.

Our faculty, staff and fellows work in a mutually supportive and collaborative environment. We are passionate about providing patient-centered and family-centered palliative care, and healing with compassionate service. We hope that you will be as excited as we are about the unique opportunities afforded by working in this unique environment and with our mission-focused palliative care interdisciplinary team.

Warmly,

Ursula McVeigh, MD
Providence Alaska Hospice and Palliative Medicine Fellowship Program Director