The mission of the Palliative Medicine Subspecialty Residency Program at the UBC is to train outstanding palliative care subspecialists who will use clinical, academic, scholarly, and leadership skills throughout their future careers to improve the quality of death and dying for patients and family members.

Since UBC is the only medical school in the British Columbia, the resident will have access to the entire provincial palliative care community. Opportunities will be provided for clinical training to occur in a variety of care settings. The Lower Mainland and Vancouver Island are rich with world-class tertiary pallaitive care units, hospices, and community based palliative care services. Fraser Health is a world leader in advance care planning and an integrated authority wide palliative care program. Victoria Hospice and its educational offerings are internationally recognized. Those interested in the delivery of palliative care in rural communities can have electives in Interior Health, Northern Health or Yukon. The Downtown Eastside offers clinical exposure and service provision to potentially marginalized populations. Residents can look forward to honing intercultural competencies as they work with Indigenous populations and those who have come to BC from all over the world.

The Division of Palliative Care at UBC has a close association with the BC Centre for Palliative Care (BC CPC) which is engaged in innovative work in Compassionate Communities. Grassroots ownership of advance care planning promotion and the normalization of dying, death, and bereavement are being encouraged with seed grants from BC CPC. Palliative care is being advocated as a public health issue by the Division and BC CPC. These initiatives create a learning environment rich with research, quality assurance, and educational opportunities.

The Palliative Medicine Subspecialty resident will also have close associations with the family practice year of added competency in palliative care trainees, allowing for the creation of a community of learners for the sharing of experiences, collaboration, and camaraderie. Resident wellness is fully recognized as a key ingredient for success, and a wellness faculty member will work with the program director to offer sessions on mindfulness, humanities in medicine,  communication, work-life balance, and social activities.

Interdisciplinary preceptors, teachers and mentors with varying backgrounds are readily available for mentorship and collaboration. Academic sessions are designed with rigor and flexibility to match evolving learning needs. Access to specialty and subspecialty providers in other medical fields will enable the resident to achieve competencies in palliative care integration across the spectrum of disease states and trajectories.