Cross-Specialty · Fellowship Career
Hospice & Palliative Medicine
Serious illness care, symptom treatment, goals-of-care communication and family support.
Fellowship Length
1 year
After a qualifying residency
Prior Residency
Multiple Eligible Routes
Internal Medicine, Family Medicine, Pediatrics, Psychiatry, Emergency Medicine
Typical Post-MD Training
Varies
Depends on the eligible residency path
Attending Compensation
$362,947
Estimated Base Salary
Training Pathway
Medical School → Residency → Fellowship
Clinical Work and Procedures
- Pain and symptom management
- Goals-of-care conversations
- Hospice eligibility evaluation
- Interdisciplinary family meetings
Attending Compensation
$362,947
Estimated Base Salary
Job-title-based model; palliative-care compensation can vary sharply with practice type.
Schedules and Practice Settings
Hospital consultation teams, hospice programs and outpatient serious-illness clinics. Some settings involve overnight coverage.
How to Prepare
During Medical School
Attend an inpatient goals-of-care meeting and outpatient follow-up for a patient with serious illness.
Research or Quality Improvement
Study advance care planning, symptom control or hospice transitions with patient-centered outcomes.
During Residency
During an eligible residency, practice complex communication, symptom management and team-based care across prognosis uncertainty.
A Question to Ask Fellows
Can you sustain repeated conversations about illness, uncertainty and patient goals?
Sources & Data Notes
Reviewed . Fellowship durations and entry routes summarize commonly accredited training pathways. Specific institutions can have different eligibility, early-entry and combined tracks; check program and board requirements for your cycle.
Fellowship Match selection is separate from the medical school residency Match. No residency competitiveness index, MD versus DO residency outcome, or fellowship acceptance percentage is assigned to these pages. National attending compensation uses a source-matched specialty estimate when available; Doximity and Medscape report total compensation, Marit uses smaller opt-in physician samples, and Salary.com models base salary from employer and third-party data. These measures are not interchangeable. Fellowship stipends depend on PGY level and institution.
For Hospice & Palliative Medicine: Salary.com 2026, Estimated Base Salary for the reported “Palliative Medicine Physician” population. Job-title-based model; palliative-care compensation can vary sharply with practice type. This is a national estimate, not a location-specific offer.
Schedules, example procedures, preparation tips and clinical roles are educational descriptions; responsibilities depend on training, practice setting and privileges. This is educational career guidance rather than individualized employment or training advice.