Introduction to Palliative Care
What You’ll Learn
All individuals living with serious illness can benefit from palliative care. This course provides clinicians from all specialties and professions with an introduction to palliative care, how it is delivered, its impact on quality of life, and the growing population of patients who need it.
Learning Outcomes
- Define palliative care
- Describe 5 core clinical services that the palliative care team provides
- Discuss 4 positive benefits of palliative care for patients and caregivers
- Explain the elements of a comprehensive, interprofessional palliative assessment
- State 3 resources to facilitate incorporating palliative care principles into practice
What You’ll Earn
After completing the course, you’ll earn a Verification of Attendance certificate.
Only CAPC members who are logged in can earn the following free Continuing Education Credits:
- 1.00 AMA PRA Category 1 Credit(s)™
- Case Management: 1.25 CE
- Nursing: 1.50 CNE
- Social Work: 1.25 CE (NYSED)
This course is open-to-all at no cost.
StartTake the course
Download your certificate
Tools & Resources
Course citations. Center to Advance Palliative Care, 2025.
Definition of palliative care and how it improves quality of life for patients living with a serious illness, and their families.
Available on GetPalliativeCare.org, this handout contains patient and family-focused frequently asked questions about palliative care.
Spanish version of CAPC's handout containing patient and family-focused frequently asked questions about palliative care. Available on GetPalliativeCare.org. (Informacion sobre cuidados paliativos con preguntas y respuestas para pacientes y sus familias. Disponible en GetPalliativeCare.org.)
Searchable directory of specialty palliative care providers, filtered by care setting.
Read stories and articles about the impact of palliative care on real patients and families.
Online training curriculum for all specialties and disciplines to strengthen their care of patients living with serious illness. Free continuing education credits for all, and physicians receive ABIM MOC credits for select courses.
These tools can be used to make the case for palliative care investment with organization leaders, health plans, colleagues, and community partners.
Information for clinicians of all disciplines on the process of becoming certified palliative care specialists.
The National Consensus Project (NCP) Clinical Practice Guidelines are the national standard for high quality palliative care. National Consensus Project for Quality Palliative Care, 2018.
A narrative article providing perspective on why some clinicians may recommend treatments (DE Meier).
Why clinicians must unlearn well-intentioned but ultimately harmful conventions about race and ethnicity—and strategies to move forward.
Accreditations and Disclosures
Physicians
Medical Society of the State of New York
This activity has been planned and implemented in accordance with the Accreditation Requirements and Policies of the Accreditation Council for Continuing Medical Education (ACCME) through the joint providership of the Medical Society of the State of New York (MSSNY) and Center to Advance Palliative Care (CAPC). MSSNY is accredited by the Accreditation Council for Continuing Medical Education (ACCME) to provide continuing medical education for physicians.
The Medical Society of the State of New York designates this enduring material for a maximum of 1.0 AMA PRA Category 1 Credits™. Physicians should claim only the credit commensurate with the extent of their participation in the activity.
Successful completion of this CME activity, which includes participation in the evaluation component, enables the participant to earn up to 1.0 Medical Knowledge MOC points in the American Board of Internal Medicine's (ABIM) Maintenance of Certification (MOC) program. Participants will earn MOC points equivalent to the amount of CME credits claimed for the activity. It is the CME activity provider's responsibility to submit participant completion information to ACCME for the purpose of granting ABIM MOC credit.
As an ACCME-accredited provider, MSSNY is required to identify and mitigate relevant financial relationships of all individuals in control of CME content.
Financial relationships are relevant if the following three conditions are met for the prospective person who will control content of the education:
✓ A financial relationship, in any amount, exists between the person in control of content and an ineligible company.
✓ The financial relationship existed during the past 24 months.
✓ The content of the education is related to the products of an ineligible company with whom the person has a financial relationship.
None of the other individuals in control of content have relevant financial relationships to disclose. All relevant financial relationships have been mitigated.
Released: 4/21/2025; Valid for credit through 2/19/2028
Estimated Time of Completion: 60 Minutes
Physician Assistants
The American Academy of Physician Assistants (AAPA) accepts credit from organizations accredited by the ACCME. The Medical Society of the State of New York designates this enduring material with 1.0 AMA PRA Category 1 Credit™ as specified, which can be applied to the continuing education of Physician Assistants. Physician Assistants should claim only the credit commensurate with the extent of their participation in the activity.
Connecticut Nurses' Association
This nursing continuing professional development activity was approved by Connecticut Nurses’ Association, an accredited approver by the American Nurses Credentialing Center’s Commission on Accreditation.
Minutes: 90 minutes or 1.50 contact hours
Valid from: 4/21/2025 through 4/21/2027
How to Achieve Contact Hours: To successfully earn credit, participants must complete the entire course, receive a minimum score of 80% on the post-test (within 3 attempts), and complete the course evaluation. A printable certificate of completion or a continuing award document specific to the discipline will be awarded. If the participant does not successfully score an 80% or better within 3 attempts they must re-take the course from beginning to end.
Faculty Disclosures and Financial Relationships: It is the policy of CAPC to ensure objectivity, balance, independence, transparency, and scientific rigor in all CE, CNE and CME educational activities per the highest standards of ANCC and ACGME guidelines. For all courses, Faculty/Presenters/Authors/Content Reviewers/Planning Committee Members complete forms to disclose their relevant financial relationships. No relevant financial relationships were identified for any individuals with the ability to control content of the activity.
Social Workers
Center to Advance Palliative Care SW CPE #0257 is recognized by the New York State Education Department's State Board for Social Work as an approved provider of continuing education for licensed social workers effective 4/21/2025 - 7/31/2027. This program has been approved for 1.25 continuing education contact hours.
Certified Case Managers
This program is approved by The Commission for Case Manager Certification (Approval # 250001191) to provide 1.25 continuing education credits to CCM® board certified case managers.
Released: 4/21/2025; Valid for credit through 4/21/2026.
Verification of Attendance (VOA)
All users that are not eligible for continuing education will receive a Verification of Attendance certificate upon completion of the course.
Course Media Instructions and Additional Information
Software Requirements: CAPC’s online curriculum, tools and technical assistance are designed to be fully compatible through multiple platforms: computer, smartphone (iOS or Android) or tablet running the following web browsers: Google Chrome, Mozilla Firefox, Safari, and Microsoft Edge.
Content: Each course is comprised of interactive learning components (articles, tools, or supporting materials), video and audio. The learner will be expected to complete various interactive processes such as matching, simulated clinical decision-making, fill in the blanks, and highlighting content.
Target Audience: Each program is developed for chaplains/spiritual counselors, nurses, physicians, physician assistants, social workers, case managers, palliative care program leaders, and healthcare leaders (hospital, health system and community care).
Activity Description/Statement of Needs: CAPC’s online curriculum provides training in two critical areas. Technical assistance courses are designed to help palliative care program leaders address key challenges such as implementing palliative care in community health care settings. Clinical coursework provides fundamental training in pain and symptom management, communication, and other key skills needed to work with patients with serious illness.
Disclaimers: The opinions expressed in the courses are those of the authors and do not necessarily represent the views of the sponsor, the educational partner, or the supporter. Please review complete prescribing information of specific drugs or combination of drugs, including indications, contraindications, warnings, and adverse effects before administering pharmacologic therapy to patients.
Activities do not contain information on commercial products/devices that are unlabeled for use or investigational uses of products not yet approved.
Copyright Information: All rights reserved by the Center to Advance Palliative Care (CAPC). No materials may be used or reproduced in any manner whatsoever without written permission except in the case of brief quotations embodied in articles or reviews.
Privacy Information: To read CAPC’s privacy policy, click here.
Course Faculty
Brynn Bowman, MPA. Chief Executive Officer, Center to Advance Palliative Care
Assistant Professor, Brookdale Department of Geriatrics and Palliative Medicine
Icahn School of Medicine at Mount Sinai
Andrew E. Esch, MD, MBA. Director of Palliative Care Program Development, Center to Advance Palliative Care
Constance Dahlin MSN, ANP-BC, ACHPN, FPCN, FAAN. Nurse Consultant, Center to Advance Palliative Care
Kesha Graham, LISW-CP, ACM-SW. Palliative Care Clinical Social Worker, Medical University of South Carolina
Evan Zazula, DMin, MAPCC. Faculty, Geriatrics and Palliative Medicine, Mt. Sinai
Brittany Chambers, MPH, MCHES. Director, Health Equity and Special Initiatives
Peer Reviewers
Sherika Newman, DO. Director of Palliative Medicine and Fellowship, Haven Hospice*
Charles Gonzalez, MD. Chair, MSSNY Subcommittee on Educational Programs
James Braun, DO. Vice-Chair, MSSNY Subcommittee on Educational Programs
Carolyn Jones-Assini. Member, MSSNY Subcommittee on Educational Programs
Dorothy Lane, MD. Member, MSSNY Subcommittee on Educational Programs
Kevin Plancher, MD. Member, MSSNY Subcommittee on Educational Programs
Takeko Takeshige, DO. Member, MSSNY Subcommittee on Educational Programs
Miriam Hardin, PhD. MSSNY CME Manager
*indicates ABIM Peer Reviewer
Course Artists
Martha/Bernard illustrated by Bishakh Som
Anne, Mike, Javier, and IPT illustrated by Kriota Willberg
Contact information: For answers to frequently asked questions about CAPC courses and CEs, read the Online Course FAQ. For all other questions, please contact support.