Palliative Care Education
As a leader in palliative care education, the MUSC College of Nursing has been recognized for its holistic approach to emphasizing the value in palliative care, and since 2017, has expanded its palliative care education to include undergraduate and graduate students as well as faculty. Students are now graduating with End-of-Life Nursing Education Consortium (ELNEC) training to better prepare them to care for individuals with serious illness and their families.
The college also launched the first in the nation, Post-Masters to Doctor of Nursing Practice, Lifespan in Palliative Care in 2020. These efforts support the national mandates and trends that strongly recommend that palliative care education be incorporated into all undergraduate and graduate nursing programs, a critical need brought to the forefront during the current COVID pandemic.
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APP Externship
The Palliative Care Advanced Practice Provider Externship is a week-long immersion course led by faculty who are nationally and internationally known palliative care experts. This immersion is geared toward the practice of Advanced Practice Registered Nurses (APRNs) and Physician Assistants (PAs).
Faculty Highlights
Carrie L. Cormack, DNP, APRN, CPNP-BC, FAAN, FPCN
Carrie Cormack is an Associate Professor and lead palliative care faculty in the College of Nursing (CON) at the Medical University of South Carolina (MUSC).
Dr. Cormack focuses on improving the quality of life for individuals living with serious illness through palliative care education and practice. Under her leadership, the CON prioritized palliative care nursing education and aligned with national recommendations, by successfully embedding palliative care across all undergraduate and graduate nursing programs. In addition, she led the development and successful implementation of the nation’s first Post-Master of Science in Nursing to Doctor of Nursing Practice Lifespan Palliative Care program. As faculty with the End-of-Life Nursing Education Consortium (ELNEC), Fellow with the Hospice and Palliative Nurses Association (FPCN), and a Fellow of the American Academy of Nursing (FAAN), Dr. Cormack teaches palliative care to interprofessional healthcare clinicians and students locally, regionally, nationally, and internationally. Concurrent to her faculty work, Dr. Cormack practices as a pediatric nurse practitioner in perinatal palliative care honoring patient and family values as they navigate receiving difficult news during pregnancy.
Dr. Cormack received her BSN from Saint Anselm College in New Hampshire, and her MSN and Doctorate from the Medical University of South Carolina.
Amy Smith
Whitney Smith, DNP, APRN, AGPCNP-BC, GNP
Donna Reinbeck
Kathleen O. Lindell, Ph.D., RN, ATSF, FAAN
Please contact conpalliativecare@musc.edu for additional information.