Facebook
X
LinkedIn
ForwardECHO-Chicago: Palliative Care
April 7, 2026 to July 7, 2026
Practical Skills for Serious Illness Care
Primary care clinicians are often the first and most trusted guides for patients facing serious illness. Yet many clinicians receive little formal training in the communication and symptom management skills that are central to high-quality palliative care. This dynamic educational series is designed to help close that gap.
Join experts and colleagues for practical, case-based learning focused on the real-world challenges clinicians face every day. Participants will gain actionable strategies to manage complex symptoms, prescribe opioids safely, navigate ethical dilemmas, and lead meaningful conversations about prognosis, goals of care, and hospice.
Whether you practice in a large health system or a small or rural hospital, this program will help you build the confidence and skills to deliver compassionate, patient- and family-centered care when it matters most.
Walk away with practical tools to manage complex symptoms, navigate difficult conversations about goals of care and prognosis, and deliver compassionate, high-quality palliative care to patients and families when they need it most.
Target Audience
This activity is designed for all primary care clinicians who care for patients with serious illness.
Learning Objectives
After this activity, participants will be able to:
- Describe the principles and scope of primary palliative care and the patients who benefit from early integration.
- Implement multimodal, evidence-based strategies to manage pain and other common symptoms in serious illness.
- Apply safe opioid prescribing practices, including risk assessment, monitoring, and mitigation strategies.
- Conduct advanced care planning and serious illness conversations that align treatment with patient values and goals.
- Demonstrate structured communication techniques to discuss prognosis, goals of care, and hospice options with patients and families.
- Assess the physical, psychological, social, spiritual, and grief-related needs of patients, caregivers, and healthcare providers.
- Resolve ethical and legal challenges in serious illness care using established decision-making frameworks.
You may also be interested in
| Date | Topic |
|---|---|
| April 7 | Introduction to ECHO-Chicago and Overview of Palliative Care Stacie Levine, MD; Maggie Putman, DO; Vasyl Hereha, MD; Samantha Ing, MD; Pramod Patel, MD |
| April 14 | Non-Malignant Pain Management Stacie Levine, MD |
| April 21 | Safe Opioid Prescribing Practices Stacie Levine, MD |
| April 28 | Advance Care Planning Samantha Ing, MD |
| May 5 | NonOpioid Pain Management Pramod Patel, MD |
| May 12 | Prognostication in Serious Illness Care Maggie Putman, DO |
| May 19 | Serious Illness Communication Skills Maggie Putman, DO |
| May 26 | Hospice Care Vasyl Hereha, MD |
| June 2 | Total Pain (Includes spiritual distress) Vasyl Hereha, MD; Josh Daniel, PhD, BCC |
| June 9 | Processing Grief for Providers, Patients and Caregivers Vasyl Hereha, MD; Josh Daniel, PhD, BCC |
| June 16 | GI Symptoms in Serious Illness Pramod Patel, MD |
| June 23 | Ethical and Legal Issues in Serious Illness Samantha Ing, MD |
The agenda is subject to change.
Online Webinar
Chicago, IL
United States
WANT TO KNOW MORE?
To learn more about the ECHO-Chicago curricula, visit our website.
ACCESSIBILITY The University of Chicago is committed to providing equal access appropriate to need and circumstances and complies fully with legal requirements of the Americans with Disabilities Act. If you are in need of special accommodation, please contact ECHO-Chicago via email.
The University of Chicago reserves the right to cancel or postpone this conference due to unforeseen circumstances. In the unlikely event this activity must be cancelled or postponed, the registration fee will be refunded; however, the University of Chicago is not responsible for any related costs, charges, or expenses to participants, including fees assessed by airline/travel/lodging agencies.
UNIVERSITY OF CHICAGO COURSE DIRECTOR
Stacie Levine, MD
Professor of Medicine
Professor of Medicine
Disclosure Declarations
As a provider accredited by the ACCME, the University of Chicago Pritzker School of Medicine asks everyone in a position to control the content of an education activity to disclose all financial relationships with any ineligible companies. This includes any entity whose primary business is producing, marketing, selling, re-selling, or distributing healthcare products used by or on patients. Financial relationships are relevant if a financial relationship, in any amount, exists between the person in control of content and an ineligible company during the past 24 months, and the content of the education is related to the products of an ineligible company with whom the person has a financial relationship. Mechanisms are in place to identify and mitigate any relevant financial relationships before the start of the activity.
Additionally, the University of Chicago Pritzker School of Medicine requires Authors to identify investigational products or off-label uses of products regulated by the U.S. Food and Drug Administration at first mention and where appropriate in the content.
As a provider accredited by the ACCME, the University of Chicago Pritzker School of Medicine asks everyone in a position to control the content of an education activity to disclose all financial relationships with any ineligible companies. This includes any entity whose primary business is producing, marketing, selling, re-selling, or distributing healthcare products used by or on patients. Financial relationships are relevant if a financial relationship, in any amount, exists between the person in control of content and an ineligible company during the past 24 months, and the content of the education is related to the products of an ineligible company with whom the person has a financial relationship. Mechanisms are in place to identify and mitigate any relevant financial relationships before the start of the activity.
Additionally, the University of Chicago Pritzker School of Medicine requires Authors to identify investigational products or off-label uses of products regulated by the U.S. Food and Drug Administration at first mention and where appropriate in the content.
Physician Credit
The University of Chicago Pritzker School of Medicine is accredited by the Accreditation Council for Continuing Medical Education (ACCME) to provide continuing medical education for physicians.
The University of Chicago Pritzker School of Medicine designates this live activity for a maximum of 12 AMA PRA Category 1 Credits™. Physicians should claim only the credit commensurate with the extent of their participation in the activity.
Other Participant Credit
Other participants will receive a Certificate of Participation. For information on the applicability and acceptance of Certificates of Participation for educational activities certified for AMA PRA Category 1 Credit™ from organizations accredited by the ACCME, please consult your professional licensing board.
The University of Chicago Pritzker School of Medicine is accredited by the Accreditation Council for Continuing Medical Education (ACCME) to provide continuing medical education for physicians.
The University of Chicago Pritzker School of Medicine designates this live activity for a maximum of 12 AMA PRA Category 1 Credits™. Physicians should claim only the credit commensurate with the extent of their participation in the activity.
Other Participant Credit
Other participants will receive a Certificate of Participation. For information on the applicability and acceptance of Certificates of Participation for educational activities certified for AMA PRA Category 1 Credit™ from organizations accredited by the ACCME, please consult your professional licensing board.
Please note: The credit-claiming process closes 1 month after the activity ends. Requests submitted more than 1 month after the event date may incur additional fees.
Registration: For more information about ECHO, visit the program website below.
Claiming Credit: Enter the access code to unlock the credit-claiming process.
Please note: The credit-claiming process closes 1 month after the activity ends. Requests submitted more than 1 month after the event date may incur additional fees.
Please note: The credit-claiming process closes 1 month after the activity ends. Requests submitted more than 1 month after the event date may incur additional fees.
Please login or create an account to proceed.