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Letters to the Editor  |   January 2006
Plans for New Conjoint Certificate of Added Qualifications in Hospice and Palliative Medicine
Karen J. Nichols, DO
Author Affiliations
  • Karen J. Nichols, DO
    Chair, End-of-Life Care Advisory Committee, American Osteopathic Association Dean; Professor, Internal Medicine, Midwestern University's Chicago College of Osteopathic Medicine, Downers Grove, Illinois
Article Information
Pain Management/Palliative Care / Palliative Care
Letters to the Editor   |   January 2006
Plans for New Conjoint Certificate of Added Qualifications in Hospice and Palliative Medicine
The Journal of the American Osteopathic Association, January 2006, Vol. 106, 5. doi:10.7556/jaoa.2006.106.1.5
The Journal of the American Osteopathic Association, January 2006, Vol. 106, 5. doi:10.7556/jaoa.2006.106.1.5
To the Editor:  
On behalf of the American Osteopathic Association End-of-Life Care Advisory Committee, I would like to advise the osteopathic medical profession of plans to create a new certification board in hospice and palliative medicine. Formal approval is expected in September 2006 to move the current certification board—the American Board of Hospice and Palliative Medicine—under the auspices of the Accreditation Council of Graduate Medical Education and the American Board of Medical Specialties,1 shutting off certification opportunities for osteopathic physicians. 
In October 2005, a group of osteopathic physicians met in Orlando, Fla, to discuss creating a conjoint Certificate of Added Qualifications in Hospice and Palliative Medicine. The End-of-Life Care Advisory Committee believes that this action would help protect certification opportunities for the osteopathic medical profession. 
We will be providing more details on these plans in the coming months. 

Editor's note:

The members of the American Osteopathic Association's End-of-Life Care Advisory Committee are: Katherine E. Galluzzi, DO (vice chair); Bruce P. Bates, DO; Cleanne Cass, DO; Benneth A. Husted, DO; Jimmie P. Leleszi, DO; Marcella L. Cherry-Pavlic, DO (resident); and John F. Manfredonia, DO (observer).

 
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American Board of Hospice and Palliative Medicine. The Transition to an ABMS Subspecialty. Available at: http://www.abhpm.org/gfxc_100.aspx. Accessed December 15, 2005.