PGY3 Psychiatry Resident applying for fellowship in Palliative Care and Hospice Medicine this coming cycle. I have been doing my own research into programs looking at their websites, but find that first hand accounts from prior fellows is limited. Any personal experiences, good or bad with specific programs? Not a dealbreaker, but have a particular interest in more experimental treatments such as Ketamine, Psilocybin, or MDMA micro-dosing for depression and anxiety in the terminally ill.
Palliative Care and Hospice Fellowship Programs
- Thread starter PB1602
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the way I see it, HPM fellowship is only 1 year, so it's difficult to focus in any one specific niche area of research during that time. This kind of work would fit better over a CAREER, not a single year that is already so busy and demanding in terms of clinical responsibility and personal growth. So I did not consider this as a high priority when considering particular fellowship programs. There are simply so many other factors that matter more and make the year go well, including the personalities of your faculty, the clinical rotations, call schedule, etc.
Also just to nitpick a bit (out of interest), the Johns Hopkins psilocybin trial was with full doses of Psilocybin, not micro doses. Have you heard of anyone doing research on MICRO doses of psilocybin for depression/anxiety in any setting, let alone the terminal ill? Just curious.
Likewise I know MDMA has been found to be highly effective for treating PTSD. However I've never heard of research in micro doses of MDMA. Has a micro dose of MDMA ever been found to help anyone, in any setting, ever?
Ketamine is being used across the country for a ton of indications. I'm forgetting right now which programs that I interviewed at offer that kind of research at the moment. Again, it wasn't a high priority for me for fellowship year but I remain generally interested.
Also just to nitpick a bit (out of interest), the Johns Hopkins psilocybin trial was with full doses of Psilocybin, not micro doses. Have you heard of anyone doing research on MICRO doses of psilocybin for depression/anxiety in any setting, let alone the terminal ill? Just curious.
Likewise I know MDMA has been found to be highly effective for treating PTSD. However I've never heard of research in micro doses of MDMA. Has a micro dose of MDMA ever been found to help anyone, in any setting, ever?
Ketamine is being used across the country for a ton of indications. I'm forgetting right now which programs that I interviewed at offer that kind of research at the moment. Again, it wasn't a high priority for me for fellowship year but I remain generally interested.
You are correct, so far the literature on microdosing is limited at best. There are a few experimental studies out there, but nothing substantial and certainly nothing I have come across in the terminally ill population. I'm definitely interested in pursuing this research wise down the road.
Out of curiosity, when you applied to fellowship where there any standout programs? As you mentioned there are so many factors to consider and given that it's only one year, I'm more and more considering staying at my home institution (if they'll have me of course!) just given that I like the faculty, clinical sites, and have a fairly good understanding of how things generally work here.