Palliative Medicine Symposium 2026
June 15, 2026
4 min read
Date: Friday, Oct. 16, 2026
Time: 7:45 a.m. to 4:15 p.m. (registration/breakfast at 7:30 a.m.)
Location: The Penn Stater Hotel & Conference Center | 215 Innovation Blvd, State College, Pa. (also virtually via Zoom)
Description
The Palliative Medicine Symposium 2026 is an all-day activity designed to provide practical, interdisciplinary education for clinicians caring for patients with serious illness. Through focused sessions on symptom management, communication and complex decision-making, learners will gain evidence-based knowledge they can immediately apply in clinical practice.
The program emphasizes real-world relevance, with case-based discussions and insights from experienced palliative care clinicians. Participants will leave with greater confidence in navigating challenging clinical situations while delivering compassionate, patient-centered care.
Program agenda
|
7:30 a.m. |
Registration |
|
7:45 a.m.
|
Welcome and Opening Remarks Patricia Fogelman, DNP, FAAHPM |
|
8:00 a.m. |
Keynote: Voices in the Darkness: Critical Illness from the Patient Perspective John Mullen, CCRN, RN |
|
9:15 a.m. |
Redefining End-of-Life Care in the ICU: What the New SCCM Guidelines Mean for Practice Patricia Fogelman, DNP, FAAHPM |
|
9:45 a.m. |
Break (15 mins) |
|
10:00 a.m. |
The Critical Pivot: When Palliative Care Changes the ICU Course Meena Gella, MD |
|
11:00 a.m. |
Voice, Swallow, Survival: Why Early Speech Pathology Changes the ICU Trajectory Elana Thompson, MS, SLP |
|
12:00 p.m. |
Lunch (45 mins) |
|
12:45 p.m. |
Agitation, Awareness and Adjuvants: Rethinking ICU Delirium Ja.m.es Perle, MD |
|
1:45 p.m. |
When to Continue, When to Pause: Ethical Navigation in Critical Illness Daniel J Hoegen, LSW, HEC-C |
|
3:00 p.m. 3:15 p.m. |
Break (15 mins) Breaking the Hospice Myth Barrier: Facts that Change Care Karen Brown, MD |
|
4:15 p.m. |
Closing Remarks, Evaluation and Adjourn Patricia Fogelman, DNP, FAAHPM |
Program planners
Patricia Fogelman, DNP, ACHPN
- Clinical Director, Palliative Medicine — Mount Nittany Medical Center
- National Faculty: Center to Advance Palliative Care (CAPC), Four Seasons Palliative Consulting Group,
- Vice Co-Chair, SCCM Task Force: Guidelines for End of Life Care in the ICU
Lindsay Reiter, BSN, RN
- Professional Development Specialist
- Mount Nittany Medical Center
Christine Watts, MSN, RN
- Professional Development Specialist
- Mount Nittany Medical Center
Target audience
Healthcare providers involved in caring for patients with advanced or serious illness. This includes physicians, advanced practice providers, nurses, social workers, chaplains, lay persons, nursing home managers, hospital leadership, medical and nursing students, and fellows.
Registration fee
Pre-registration is required by Oct. 2, 2026. Lunch is provided for in-person registrations.
If you are a student claiming CME or NCPD credits, you must register at the standard rate.
- Standard (in-person) — $150
- Standard (virtual) — $100
- Student (in person) — $100 (no credits issued)
- Student (virtual) — $85 (no credits issued)
Make checks payable to MNMC CME Program. For credit card payment, please call 814.231.7174.
Register online here or scan the QR code:
CME information
Designation
The Mount Nittany Medical Center designates this activity for a maximum of 7 AMA PRA Category 1 Credit(s)™.
This program meets the criteria for 7 of the 12 hours required in patient safety/risk management as defined by the Pennsylvania State Board of Medicine.
Accreditation
The Mount Nittany Medical Center is accredited by the Pennsylvania Medical Society to provide continuing medical education for physicians.
NCPD information
Contact hours
This activity provides 7 nursing continuing professional development (NCPD) contact hours.
Mount Nittany Medical Center is approved as a provider of nursing continuing professional development by Pennsylvania State Nurses Association, an accredited approver by the American Nurses Credentialing Center’s Commission on Accreditation.
Completion criteria
In order to obtain CME credit or NCPD contact hours you must:
- Must attend the entire presentation, partial credit will not be awarded.
- Complete the post-activity evaluation.
Faculty disclosure and commercial support
None of the planners, faculty or others in control of content for this educational activity have relevant financial relationship(s) to disclose with ineligible companies whose primary business is producing, marketing, selling, re-selling or distributing healthcare products used by or on patients.
This activity received no commercial support or sponsorship.
Questions
Please contact Chelsea Aukerman, Continuing Education Coordinator at Mount Nittany Medical Center: