Certification acknowledges care of dying patients
The American Board of Radiology now offers a certificate in hospice and palliative care, designed for doctors whose work involves the care of seriously ill and dying patients.
The American Board of Radiology now offers a certificate in hospice and palliative care, designed for doctors whose work involves the care of seriously ill and dying patients.
Hospice practices and palliative medicine are based on expanding scientific knowledge about symptom control when cure is not available and appropriate end-of-life care is the goal. Though the certification is not intended to confer privilege to practice, the recognition could offer an advantage for physicians who choose to specialize in that area, said Dr. Bruce Haffty, an ABR radiation oncology trustee.
"Radiation oncologists, as part of our practice, routinely care for patients who are terminally ill or require palliation of their disease," Haffty said.
He noted that diagnostic radiologists would be less interested but could see some involvement.
"There are some who might specialize in procedures that are often used with patients in that category, such as interventional radiologists," he said.
The subspecialty is available to all ABR-certified radiologists. Doctors must do at least 100 hours on a hospice and palliative care team and be involved in the care of at least 50 terminally ill patients over a two-year period, Haffty said.
The final step is an examination, which will be administered this October. The certification is good for 10 years.
New MRI Research Explores Links Between Waist-to-Hip Ratio and Memory in Aging
March 13th 2025Researchers found that a higher waist-to-hip ratio in midlife was associated with higher mean diffusivity in 26 percent of total white matter tracts in the cingulum as well as the superior and inferior longitudinal fasciculus.
Can Ultrasound-Based Radiomics Enhance Differentiation of HER2 Breast Cancer?
March 11th 2025Multicenter research revealed that a combined model of clinical factors and ultrasound-based radiomics exhibited greater than a 23 percent higher per patient-level accuracy rate for identifying HER2 breast cancer than a clinical model.
