The Center for Hospice Care hosted a fellow reception at their Mishawaka location on Monday, April 15.
The focus of the reception was to recognize the 2023-2024 Vera Z. Dwyer fellow from the IU School of Medicine. Mike Wargo, chief operating officer of the Hospice Foundation, provided an introduction for the program and shared his gratitude for everyone who attended the event.
John Mastrojohn, President and CEO of Center for Hospice Care and the Hospice Foundation, acknowledges how meaningful it is for the organization to focus on education.
“We certainly appreciate the opportunity to work with IU on educating the next generation of hospice and palliative care physicians,” Mastrojohn said. “Our goal is to use this position to construct a pipeline of specialists to not only serve the South Bend area, but other areas throughout the state as well.”
David Kibbe, president and CEO of Indiana Trust Wealth Management, the organization that manages the Vera Z. Dwyer Charitable Trust, describes how the partnerships that have allowed for this educational opportunity are integral for their vision with hospice care.
“This isn’t just an investment in a single entity,” Kibbe said “This is an investment in the understanding of palliative care and hospice care. Our partnership with Indiana University is terrific and we look forward to continuing to grow it. I hope people can continue to spread the importance of education about palliative medicine.”
With every fellow reception that the Center for Hospice Care has orchestrated, the event uses the opportunity to spotlight hospice and palliative care physicians that are making a positive difference.
Dr. Lyle Fettig is the director of the Hospice and Palliative Medicine Fellowship program at the IU School of Medicine. He notes how this fellowship has continued to open doors for each of these physicians.
“We have had a wonderful year with all of our fellows,” Dr. Fettig said. “In total, we have three hospice and palliative medicine fellows at the IU School of Medicine this year. The opportunities that this place has given to our fellows over the years in making our training program better and the increased number of trainees that we are able to have is incredible.” In addition to hosting the Vera Z. Dwyer fellow each year, other fellows in the program rotate to Center for Hospice Care to gain experience in managing an inpatient care unit.
After sharing the extensive opportunities for fellows at Center for Hospice Care, Dr. Fettig introduced this year’s Vera Z. Dwyer fellow, Dr. Aimee Heerd.
Dr. Heerd shared a story about her fellowship experience that spoke volumes about her approach to hospice and palliative medicine. She heard a mother tell her son, before he passed away from pancreatic cancer, about how lucky she was to have been with him since birth. Hearing the mother express how thankful she was to witness her son’s life from start to finish taught Dr. Heard a valuable lesson about hospice care.
“I cried,” Dr. Heard said. “Despite what is arguably the tragedy of a child dying before his own mother, she was able to offer a beautiful testimony of how profound it is to care for those who have a serious illness or are dying. I am so grateful to be here among my faculty, who have taught me the science of hospice and palliative care. But truly, who we learn the most from is our patients and their families.”
Creating the best opportunities to embrace this understanding is what inspires the Center for Hospice Care and the IU School of Medicine. Dr. Heerd believes in the importance of honoring the patients, faculty, and the staff who provide the backbone of the fellowship and the organization to assure the loving and honorable care that people might need is readily available.
The next major event for the Center for Hospice Care is their spring Coffee Cruise on Sunday, April 21. The fun will start at 8 a.m.
For more information on the Center for Hospice Care, you can visit their website.
