The Palliative Care Leadership Centers^SM are six premier palliative care programs providing training and technical assistance to the rapidly growing number of hospitals and other institutions seeking to start or strengthen palliative care programs. During the 2-day training, participants will interact with a successful program in practice, and receive in-depth training on the operational aspects of building a palliative care program in a small group, hands-on setting. The PCLCs are an initiative of the Center to Advance Palliative Care (CAPC).

The PCLCs have developed a year-long, comprehensive curriculum which focuses on the operational aspects of starting and building palliative care programs. The curriculum includes needs assessment, financing, staffing models, community partnerships, palliative care education, marketing, and implementation. However, what you will learn during the training is just the beginning. Pre-training "homework" activities will help ensure that you get the most out your time at the PCLC, while a year long post-training mentoring program will ensure you can apply what you have learned at your own institution.

CAPC seminars provide a comprehensive overview of the financial and operational aspects of building and running a palliative care program. Attendance at a CAPC Seminar is not a prerequisite for PCLC training, but you will find the seminar useful background for participating in a PCLC training.

The Palliative Care Leadership Centers (PCLC) provide more intensive, hands-on training tailored to your institution. Training is provided year-round through sessions at any of our six PCLCs.

The choice is yours. Some participants choose to train at the site that is geographically closest to them, while others choose a PCLC most similar to their own (community hospital, cancer center, pediatric program, hospice, etc). Since all PCLCs offer the same comprehensive curriculum, you will receive the same high-quality training and mentoring regardless of which site you chose. You can take our short quiz and find a PCLC match for you.

No. The PCLC curriculum offers training in the operational aspects of developing a palliative care program. See resources on developing clinical expertise.

The PCLCs were selected through a nine-month long, highly competitive process. The PCLCs were chosen because of their clinical excellence, outstanding leadership, reputation, and experience.

Unfortunately, no. There was only one cycle of funding, and we will not be selecting any additional PCLCs.

PCLCs are flexible about the number of people you bring to a training. A minimum of 2 people per institution is required, and while there is no maximum, most groups are 5 people or less. Please note that your tuition fee will vary depending on the number of people on your team (see question 9).

There is an enrollment fee of $3,500 per team of up to 4 people from one institution. Because experience has shown that involvement of a financial officer is key to successful palliative care programs, a reduced fee of $3,250 per team is available to those who include a hospital finance person as a member of their team. Teams larger than 4 are welcome. There will be an additional fee of $200 for each person after the fourth.

Included in the tuition is a copy of the CAPC publication A Guide to Building a Hospital-Based Palliative Care Program, a step-by-step manual for building a successful palliative care program. It includes customizable spreadsheets, marketing materials, and clinical, management and administrative tools.

For the purposes of the PCLC training, a "finance person" is an individual who works for the finance department, has a management role such as director of finance or decision support who is conversant in and can readily access hospital decision support data (including clinical and financial data); who works closely with the system CFO; and who will function as a member of the team implementing palliative care in the organization. Because experience has shown that involvement of a senior financial administrator is key to successful palliative care programs, groups that include a finance person on their team will be charged a reduced tuition fee.

Financial support from a consortium of funders helps cover the administrative costs of the program at each site, and subsidizes the cost of each training session. However, the grants are not large enough to cover all the costs. PCLC tuition money is redirected back into the initiative, and will be used to help off-set the cost of program administration, training, and to support post-training mentoring activities.

You can apply online at  http://pclcapply.capc.org/ .

There is no paper application. If you need assistance with the online application, please contact Jennifer Raiten at (212) 201-2683.

The PCLC application asks for basic information about you and your team, information about your institution and your palliative care program (if you already have one), as well as your experience with CAPC. The final step of the application is to select which PCLC you'd like to visit. After you submit your application, it will be sent directly to the PCLC you'd like to visit, and they will get in touch with you about scheduling training.

Apply now! PCLC training is available on a first-come, first-served basis, and availability is limited.

Demand for training is very high. In some cases, you may have to wait a few months for the training, so we recommend you apply early. If you do have to wait, you can get a head start on your training by attending a CAPC seminar in the interim.

You can get more information by contacting Jennifer Raiten, PCLC Project Officer, at (212) 201-2683 or pclc@mssm.edu .