James Fletcher, M.D., of the University of Arkansas for Medical Sciences (UAMS), has earned the designation Fellow of the American Academy of Hospice and Palliative Medicine. The status of Fellow is the highest honor that can be bestowed upon a physician member of the AAHPM.
Fletcher is assistant professor in the UAMS College of Medicine Division of Palliative Medicine and a faculty member for the UAMS Hospice and Palliative Medicine (HPM) fellowship program, the only HPM subspecialty program in the state.
The goal of palliative care is to help patients live as well as possible while facing a serious or life-threatening illness. Palliative care physicians offer care at any stage of illness, including end of life, and address patients’ physical, spiritual and mental needs.
Fletcher earned his medical degree from Eastern Virginia Medical School. He received a commission through the U.S. Navy and trained in internal medicine at Naval Medical Center Portsmouth. Following residency, he was chief of residents at Naval Medical Center Portsmouth (NMCP).
He went on to complete a Nephrology Fellowship at the National Capital Consortium. After serving as a staff physician and assistant program director for the Internal Medicine Residency at NMCP, he completed a fellowship in Hospice and Palliative Medicine at Virginia Commonwealth University Health System. Before coming to UAMS, he was on faculty at Texas Tech University Health Sciences Center in Lubbock, Texas.
The AAHPM is the only national medical specialty society for hospice and palliative medicine. Since 1988, AAHPM has supported hospice and palliative medicine through professional education and training, development of a specialist workforce, support for clinical practice standards, research and advocacy. AAHPM’s membership includes more than 5,200 physicians and other health care professionals committed to improving the care of patients with serious illness. Learn more at www.aahpm.org or visit the patient website, www.PalliativeDoctors.org.