Hospice and Palliative Medicine Fellow Testimonials

I chose AdventHealth Orlando because this program offers a unique opportunity to participate and engage in caring for a diverse patient population. The campuses are all unique and the complexity of patients offer a well-rounded experience. I appreciate this diversity not only on the patient population but staff experiences and expertise.

I have enjoyed the fellowship because despite all the necessary adjustments and functioning in uncertain times, I find myself fully engaged. The team members, and attendings are supportive. The common goal to optimize teaching and exposure despite a changing system shines through.

The community in the Orlando area and surrounding areas includes young families, working young adult/adults, retirees, people who under normal circumstances (non COVID) would spend their Summers in their respective states and come to Florida to escape the harsh Winters, and geriatrics population.

In my personal experience I have interacted with patients from all over the United States, either because they are here temporarily or because they have moved to enjoy the sunshine all year round.

I have also interacted with patients and people from Latin America, the Caribbean, Europe, Asia, all from different socioeconomic status and ages.

I have enjoyed the linear trajectory of observing patient care within the system and meeting the escalating needs of the patient depending on their clinical status.

I have observed patients on the regular floor, PCU, ICU, and to the Rehabilitation floor.

Subspecialty support and treatment such as Oncology, ENT, Vascular, Neurosurgical and Cardiothoracic are a few of the subspecialties available.

I have also observed prompt assistance to expedite transition from active curative status to hospice care within the hospital floor, rapid transition to home from both the inpatient setting and from the inpatient Hospice units per patient wishes.

All these instances are well coordinated with the primary teams and subspecialties. Access to subspecialist colleagues has been a smooth process.

The clinical experience and exposure to different settings of inpatient palliative units and hospice units is quite diverse as is the patient population in the different campuses.

The staff is also quite diverse. Each campus has a different patient population with different abilities to process their clinical findings and participate in their medical care. It is one of the greater advantages to participate in managing processes in each specific culture of a given campus.

The institution has ensured that we have the necessary equipment along with support and instructions on how to remain as healthy as possible. Regular updates regarding the status of the COVID patient population at the campuses and local county/ state level have been consistently reviewed.

Avoiding direct exposure to COVID patient has been instituted.

I would recommend this fellowship to applicants because this program offers extensive diversity, evidence- based teaching, multicultural environments, and a patient population unique to the Central Florida Area. The working environment lends itself to maximize learning, participate in active care as well as optimal guidance through the material to prepare you for the future year and many to come as a Palliative Care and Hospice provider.

p.s. You can’t beat the rest and relaxation time at the beach…

I chose AdventHealth because I wanted to have the opportunity to complete my training at a large tertiary center. I’ve had the opportunity to provide quality palliative care in multiple ICU settings (Neuro/Medical/Surgical). The patient population is extremely diverse as we have a transplant center, cancer center, heart failure center, inpatient hospice unit, and children’s hospital.

What I have enjoyed the most about this fellowship program is the positive learning environment, flexibility, the diverse patient population, interesting pathology, and working with incredible nursing staff, chaplains and social workers, their teamwork and dedication has been inspiring. In addition, I truly value the support from our faculty, coordinator, and program director.

I completed my residency training in New York but Orlando is by far as diverse if not more than NYC! I truly love the diversity of our patient population. I have been exposed to a large Puerto Rican and South American community who only speak Spanish. In addition, we have a large African American community, Caribbean, and Asian. Socioeconomic status is also very diverse and of course we have a large geriatric population.

At AdventHealth, we are exposed to incredibly diverse pathology. We see patients with advance heart failure on ECHMO, post heart/kidney transplant or LVAD placement, liver failure, renal failure on CRRT, advanced pulmonary hypertension, and bone marrow transplant

Our safety and well-being during this pandemic has been of paramount importance. We have avoided direct exposure to COVID patients and have been provided with more than enough protective equipment. AdventHealth has made available the services of license social workers that can provide complimentary sessions if we are dealing with stress and anxiety. They have also provided free hotel rooms in case we need to quarantine from family members. Our program's concern and support for our safety and well-being has been extraordinary and we truly appreciate it.

In addition to the educational opportunities here, I have really enjoyed spending time with this awesome team of people. The closeness and support amongst team members is immediately apparent, and I have felt welcomed and included as a member of the team from the start.

In addition to the educational opportunities here, I have really enjoyed spending time with this awesome team of people. The closeness and support amongst team members is immediately apparent, and I have felt welcomed and included as a member of the team from the start.

The diverse patient population here is a large part of what drew me to this program. There are abundant opportunities to work with people from all kinds of cultural and socioeconomic backgrounds.