After completing this course, you will be able to

• Identify patients with advanced diseases and in need of palliative care.
• Recognize and explain the benefits of early palliative care.
• Clarify common misconceptions about palliative care.
• Recognize disease trajectories and introduce end-of-life decisions early in the course of disease.
• Improve the ability to establish a prognosis, based on simple questions and scale.
• Assess functional status to create more accurate and robust prognoses.
• Use communication techniques to deliver bad news effectively and compassionately.
• Assess your patient’s goals and priorities and engage them in shared decision-making.
• Recognize refractory disease and avoid futile and potentially inappropriate treatments.
• Identify and treat common symptoms such as pain and dyspnea.
• Define refractory symptoms and initiate palliative sedation.
• Make decisions regarding withholding or withdrawing potentially inappropriate treatments.