About HMS CPC
The Harvard Medical School Center for Palliative Care (HMS CPC) seeks to help create a world where all patients living with serious illness are cared for by clinicians who address their suffering and promote their quality of life. The Center for Palliative Care is recognized internationally for the quality of its research, the impact of its educational programs, its rich history, and its ongoing contributions to the development and growth of the field of palliative care.
The mission of the HMS CPC is to foster an interdisciplinary community of clinicians, educators, and researchers to promote and disseminate compassionate, evidence-based care for all people living with serious illness and their families.
The need for palliative care specialists working with skilled, multi-disciplinary teams continues to expand, driven in part by an aging population, the global epidemic of chronic disease, rising healthcare costs, and patients’ increasing role in treatment decisions.
By educating future generations of physicians, nurses, social workers, pharmacists, and other healthcare professionals, the HMS CPC serves as a model for the best practices in palliative care education and practice.
HMS CPC Co-Director James Tulskey teaching Palliative Care Education and Practice (PCEP). HMS CPC now offers live, virtual courses.
The HMS CPC’s multi-disciplinary programs engage physicians, nurses, social workers, chaplains, and other allied health professionals who benefit from its:
- Large, distinguished faculty of clinical and research experts
- Emphasis on a biopsychosocial and spiritual approach that focuses on communication skills training, recognizing prognostic awareness, eliciting patients’ values and wishes, and engaging families in goals of care discussions
- Program development and teaching skills fundamental to leading palliative care education and practice programs
- Innovative, interactive, and experiential teaching methods
- Networking, peer support, and supplementary learning opportunities during and after program participation