Hospice and palliative medicine

In 2006, hospice and palliative medicine was officially recognized by the American Board of Medical Specialties, and is co-sponsored by the American Boards of Internal Medicine Anesthesiology Family Medicine Physical Medicine and Rehabilitation Psychiatry and Neurology Surgery Pediatrics Emergency Medicine Radiology Obstetrics and Gynecology Physicians who complete a residency in one of the co-sponsoring specialties are then eligible for further training in an ACGME-approved Hospice and Palliative Medicine fellowship program, after which they must pass the official examination to be board-certified in the subspecialty. In 2007, the American Osteopathic Association Bureau of Osteopathic Specialists approved a Certificate of Added Qualifications (CAQ) in hospice and palliative medicine. By 2012 participants are the American Osteopathic Boards of Internal Medicine Family Medicine Neurology and Psychiatry Physical Medicine and Rehabilitation. Candidates are eligible for CAQ certification after achieving board-certification following an American Osteopathic Association-approved residency. Hospice comes from the Latin word hospitum which means hospitality. Initially as a form of lodging for the sick, hospice refers to holistic end of life care. The word palliate comes from the Latin word "pallium", which means "cloak"—to palliate is to cloak, or cover up, the symptoms of an illness without curing it. Palliative care got its start as hospice care delivered largely by caregivers at religious institutions. The first formal hospice was founded in 1948 by the British physician Dame Cicely Saunders in order to care for patients with terminal illnesses. She defined key physical, emotional, social, and spiritual dimensions of distress in her work. She also developed the first hospice care as well in the US in 1974 - Connecticut Hospice. The National Hospice Organization (NHO) was established in 1978. By 1982, the US government began funding their work via the Medicare Hospice Benefit.