Grace LaTorre, DO, MS
Fellowship Program Director
I joined Stony Brook University Hospital in September of 2017. From the beginning what attracted me to Stony Brook University Hospital were the endless opportunities for teaching at every level of training. My passion for teaching began early during my training in palliative medicine, and my goal was to continue to pursue opportunities in academic medicine. I was especially impressed by the teaching program led by the Palliative Care Service. It is a mature and robust program that serves a variety of trainees, ranging from medical students to fellows from different specialties and even attendings. Since joining the service, I have expanded the teaching program extensively, including initiating the integration of the SIM lab for communication skills training for medical students, internal medicine residents and most recently hematology & oncology fellows. Furthermore, in addition to internal medicine residents, emergency medicine residents, geriatric fellows, hematology & oncology fellows, consultation-liaison psychiatry fellows and geriatric-psych fellows, anesthesia residents now have mandatory rotations with our inpatient Palliative Care Service. Our very popular elective and selective rotation for Stony Brook medical students has also grown tremendously. When the opportunity presented for me to be able to lead the new ACGME accredited Hospice and Palliative Medicine Fellowship Program, I felt honored and excited. I look forward to training new academic palliative medicine experts and leaders.
Stony Brook University Hospital offers a unique experience for training which is attributed to the diverse patient population, broad disease pathology, and the suburban location of the University Hospital which services a large geographic area. We are the only tertiary academic hospital and Level I trauma Center in Suffolk County on Long Island, which is located only about an hour away from New York City. Our very intimate collaboration with services in the hospital, such as the Acute Pain Service, the surgical teams, critical care teams, and pediatric teams, allow for a very well-rounded experience for the fellow. The complexity of our cancer patients allows for in-depth exposure and training in complicated cancer pain management and other cancer related symptoms. Lastly, despite Stony Brook University Hospital being a large academic center, there is a strong sense of community and camaraderie. This, in addition to the above, makes the Hospice and Palliative Medicine Fellowship Program at Stony Brook University Hospital an ideal program to train in.
Grace LaTorre, DO, MS
Fellowship Program Director
