Prescribing Ketamine for Symptom Management in Patients with Serious Illness
Registration Fee
- Members: $100.00
- Non-members: $150.00
WHEN
Where
Zoom
Offers CE
This virtual workshop offers a comprehensive and practical overview of ketamine use in palliative care, with a focus on managing refractory pain and treatment-resistant depression in patients with serious illness. Participants will gain an understanding of the pharmacology of ketamine, including its action as an NMDA receptor antagonist, and examine why it may be uniquely effective in cases where conventional therapies fall short. The workshop covers current—and evolving—evidence for ketamine's use in palliative settings, including its benefits, limitations, and safety considerations. Through real-world case vignettes, clinicians will learn how to identify appropriate candidates for ketamine use, determine the most appropriate administration routes, strategies for dosing, and how to mitigate side effects. The workshop will also address regulatory and logistical barriers to prescribing, providing tools and insights to help participants integrate the use of ketamine safely and effectively into clinical practice. Designed for physicians, advanced practice registered nurses, and physician associates/assistants, this workshop offers both foundational knowledge and practical approaches to expand your palliative care symptom management toolkit.
Learning Outcomes:
By the end of this activity, participants will be able to:
- Describe the pharmacologic properties and mechanism of action of ketamine, including its role as an NMDA receptor antagonist.
- Identify appropriate clinical indications for ketamine use in serious illness, particularly in cases of refractory pain and treatment-resistant depression.
- Evaluate the current evidence base for ketamine use in palliative care, including its benefits, limitations, and areas of uncertainty.
- Formulate individualized prescribing strategies that optimize therapeutic benefit while minimizing adverse effects and safety risks.
- Develop practical approaches to address regulatory, ethical, and logistical barriers to the integration of ketamine into palliative care practice.
What You’ll Earn
To earn Continuing Education credits for this live event, you must join Zoom using the same email address as your CAPC user account (you can verify the address on your capc.org dashboard). We cannot provide Continuing Education credits if you join by phone for the live event. You must also attend at least 90% of the event, complete the evaluation, and sign the attestation.
Accreditations and Disclosures
Physician
This activity has been planned and implemented in accordance with the accreditation requirements and policies of the Accreditation Council for Continuing Medical Education (ACCME) through the joint providership of the Medical Society of the State of New
(MSSNY) and the Center to Advance Palliative Care (CAPC). MSSNY is accredited by the ACCME to provide continuing medical education for physicians.
The Medical Society of the State of New York designates each session of this live activity for a maximum of 2.0 AMA PRA Category 1 Credits™ displayed per session. Physicians should claim only the credit commensurate with the extent of their participation in the activity.
Successful completion of this CME activity, which includes participation in the evaluation component, enables the participant to earn up to 2.0 Medical Knowledge MOC points in the American Board of Internal Medicine's (ABIM) Maintenance of Certification (MOC) program. Participants will earn MOC points equivalent to the amount of CME credits claimed for the activity. It is the CME activity provider's responsibility to submit participant completion information to ACCME for the purpose of granting ABIM MOC credit.
As an ACCME-accredited provider, MSSNY is required to identify and mitigate relevant financial relationships of all individuals in control of CME content.
Financial relationships are relevant if the following three conditions are met for the prospective person who will control content of the education:
✓ A financial relationship, in any amount, exists between the person in control of content and an ineligible company.
✓ The financial relationship existed during the past 24 months.
✓ The content of the education is related to the products of an ineligible company with whom the person has a financial relationship.
John Maese, MD, Member of MSSNY Subcommittee on Educational Programs, has disclosed that he owns stock in Eli Lilly and Johnson & Johnson.
None of the other individuals in control of content has relevant financial relationships to disclose.
All relevant financial relationships have been mitigated.
Minutes: 120 or 2.0 contact hours
Released: 11/10/2025; Valid through 3/04/2026
Physician Assistants
The American Academy of Physician Assistants (AAPA) accepts credit from organizations accredited by the ACCME. Medical Society of the State of New York designates this enduring material with 2.0 AMA PRA Category 1 Credits™ as specified, which can be applied to the continuing education of Physician Assistants. Physician Assistants should claim only the credit commensurate with the extent of their participation in the activity.
Nurses
This nursing continuing professional development activity was approved by Connecticut Nurses’ Association, an accredited approver by the American Nurses Credentialing Center’s Commission on Accreditation.
Minutes: 120 minutes or 2.0 contact hours
Released: 11/10/2025; Valid for credit through 11/10/2027
This course meets the requirements of the American Nurses Credentialing Center and the American Association of Nurse Practitioners to offer 2.0 Category 1 Designated Pharmacotherapeutic Credit Hours as required for maintenance of national certification for nurse practitioners and clinical nurse specialists. This activity incorporates current clinical application of pharmacology across the life span including drug specific information, safe prescribing practices and information, safe medication administration, prescribing methodologies, new regulations and/or similar content.
Course Directors
Diane E. Meier, MD, FACP, FAAHPM
Founder, Director Emerita and Strategic Medical Advisor, Center to Advance Palliative Care
Co-director, Patty and Jay Baker National Palliative Care Center
Professor, Department of Geriatrics and Palliative Medicine
Catherine Gaisman Professor of Medical Ethics, Icahn School of Medicine at Mount Sinai
Andrew E. Esch, MD, MBA
Director, Palliative Care Program Development, Center to Advance Palliative Care
Course Faculty
Drew A Rosielle MD, FAAHPM
System Medical Director, Palliative Care M Health Fairview
Christina Wiekamp, MSN, APRN, CNS, NP-C
Clinical Nurse Specialist, Nurse Practitioner, Pain Management Leader
Palliative Care M Health Fairview
Peer Reviewers
Constance Dahlin, MSN, ANP-BC, ACHPN, FPCN, FAAN
Nurse Planner, Consultant, Center to Advance Palliative Care
Sherika Newman, DO
CAPC ABIM Peer Reviewer
Founder, Doctor in the Family, Atlanta, GA
