Promoting Collaborative CL Psychiatry and Palliative Care Education via Combined Fellow-focused Case Conferences

Outcomes 1. Describe the benefits of integrating palliative care and psychiatry education and practice.2. Apply a collaborative model of training between palliative care and psychiatry to educational initiatives. Key Message Patients with serious illnesses have high rates of psychiatric comorbidities. There is significant siloing between palliative medicine and psychiatry in clinical practice and training. Providers benefit from opportunities for transdisciplinary, interprofessional collaborative learning. We present a novel conference-based learning opportunity co-designed by psychiatry and palliative care faculty and learners, integrating teaching and learning about managing serious illness and mental comorbidities. Introduction/Context Patients with serious illnesses have high rates of psychiatric comorbidities. Traditionally, there has been significant siloing between palliative medicine and psychiatry in both clinical practice and training, and physician fellowships in psychiatry and palliative medicine provide few opportunities for cross-training. Creating opportunities for psychiatrists and palliative care clinicians to learn together is a low-resource way to improve integration. Objectives We created an interactive, fellow-focused conference curriculum to promote consultation-liaison psychiatry and hospice and palliative medicine education. Methods We created a quarterly conference program for interdisciplinary staff and learners on the palliative care and consultation-liaison services, leveraging case discussions and didactic content delivered by invited experts in psychosocial serious illness care. The curriculum is determined by a workgroup consisting of faculty and fellows from both disciplines. Results Since initiating this program in 2021, we have conducted 7 Combined CL and Palliative Care Case Conferences encompassing topics such as SUD, prolonged grief disorder, psychedelics, serious mental illness and health equity, eating disorders, and psychologically-informed palliative care. Our next case conference, focusing on suicidality in palliative care, is scheduled for October 2023. These conferences have all been attended by core faculty members and fellows from the Columbia University Consultation-Liaison Psychiatry program and the Hospice and Palliative Medicine Bi-Campus Fellowship at New York Presbyterian Hospital (Columbia and Cornell Campus). During the 2023-2024 academic year, the conferences are expanding to include faculty and trainees at another academic medical center. We are beginning program evaluation, the results of which will be included in this presentation. Conclusion Trainees and clinicians benefit from opportunities for transdisciplinary, interprofessional collaborative learning focused on meeting the needs of patients with serious illness and mental health comorbidities. We present a novel conference-based learning opportunity co-designed by psychiatry and palliative care faculty and learners as a model for integrated teaching and learning. Keywords Interdisciplinary Teamwork / Professionalism