Maine Medical Center
Elderly woman's hands

Research & Teaching

Teaching

We believe that developing each fellows’ skills as educators is an important part of the palliative medicine fellowship. The MHMMC Department of Medical Education and Institute for Teaching Excellence provides extensive opportunities for our fellows to expand their skills. Fellows are encouraged to partake in these conferences as well as asynchronous learning opportunities.

Scholarly Experience 

A distinguishing feature of the Hospice and Palliative Care Fellowship is its association with the Center for Interdisciplinary Population and Health Research (CIPHR)  at the MaineHealth Institute for Research. The Fellowship Program Director, Dr. Rebecca Hutchinson, actively conducts research and is an investigator at CIPHR. 

There are many opportunities for our fellows to engage in research related to their interests in palliative medicine. All fellows are expected to complete a scholarly project. In the recent past fellows have done quality improvement projects, quantitative research, and developed business models to use in future work environments. Here are a few posters from fellow work in the recent years: 

Hospice and Palliative Medicine Presentations

Here are some recent posters showing the work of our fellows:
  • The Surprise Question is not Correlated with Increases in Advance Care Planning Documentation: Teresa Letellier, MD, Christina T. Holt, MD, MSc, Amy Haskins, PhD, Rebecca N. Hutchinson, MD, MPH
  • Redundancy or Value Added? Ethics Consults in Hospitalized Patients with Palliative Medicine Involvement JoAnna Slobodnjak MD, Frank Chessa PhD, Rebecca Hutchinson MD MPH
  • Advanced Care Planning in Older Adults Prior to Surgery Brian Honeyman MD PhD, Rebecca Kalman, Rebecca Hutchinson MD, MPH
  • Periprocedural Code Status Discussions for Inpatients Undergoing Percutaneous Gastrostomy Tube Placement Rebecca Kalman, MD and Rebecca Hutchinson, MD MPH
  • Impact of Palliative Care Consultations for Patients Admitted to Maine Medical Center with Acute Exacerbations of COPD Benjamin Jarrett MD MPH, Isabella Stumpf DO, Rebecca Hutchinson MD MPH
  • A "Good Death" During Coronavirus Disease 2019: Outdoor Terminal Extubation Facilitates Safe Family Presence for a Dying Patient. Crispo MM, Strout TD, Munzig LM, Lerwick PA.
  • What is Quality End-of-Life Care for Patients With Heart Failure? A Qualitative Study With Physicians. Hutchinson RN, Gutheil C, Wessler BS, Prevatt H, Sawyer DB, Han PKJ.J Am Heart Assoc. 2020 Sep 15;9(18):e016505. doi: 10.1161/JAHA.120.016505. Epub 2020 Aug 31.
  • Variations in Hospice Utilization and Length of Stay for Medicare Patients With Melanoma. Hutchinson RN, Lucas FL, Becker M, Wierman HR, Fairfield KM.J Pain Symptom Manage. 2018 Apr;55(4):1165-1172.e5. doi: 10.1016/j.jpainsymman.2017.12.334. Epub 2017 Dec 14.
  • How Well Does the Surprise Question Predict 1-year Mortality for Patients Admitted with COPD? Tripp D, Janis J, Jarrett B, Lucas FL, Strout TD, Han PKJ, Stumpf I, Hutchinson RN.J Gen Intern Med. 2021 Jan 6. doi: 10.1007/s11606-020-06512-8. Online ahead of print. PMID: 33409886
  • Rural disparities in end-of-life care for patients with heart failure: Are they due to geography or socioeconomic disparity? Hutchinson RN, Han PKJ, Lucas FL, Black A, Sawyer D, Fairfield K.J Rural Health. 2021 May 27. doi: 10.1111/jrh.12597. Online ahead of print. PMID: 34043838
  • Association of Palliative Care Consultation with Advance Directive Completion for Patients Admitted with an Acute Heart Failure Exacerbation. Authors: Michelle Crispo, Doug Sawyer, Kathleen Fairfield, Rebecca N. Hutchinson. Publication: Journal of Maine Medical Center
  • End-of-Life Healthcare Use of Medicare Patients with Melanoma Based on Patient Characteristics and Year of Death. Authors: Rebecca N. Hutchinson, F. Lee Lucas, Kathleen Fairfield. Publication: Journal of Maine Medical Center