Palliative care (PC) is high value, holistic care for a child and their family across the entire arc of an illness. All physicians should be competent in symptom management and providing goal-concordant care that acknowledges quality of life; however, there is insufficient education in pediatric residency to develop competence in basic or “Primary” Palliative Care (PC).

We completed a needs assessment and developed a longitudinal, comprehensive, and integrated primary PC curriculum for pediatric residents with the goal of developing foundational primary PC skills regardless of eventual career trajectory. After one year of implementation, we assessed resident comfort with primary PC skills via retrospective pre-post survey.

We found a statistically significant (p<0.05) increase in residents’ comfort with pain management, delivering serious news, and discussing goals of care. An increase in comfort with management of other symptoms was not statistically significant.

After one year of implementation, residents describe an increase in comfort with primary PC skills. Next steps include more rigorous evaluation and expansion to include more education in medical ethics. While the educational need is universal, resident needs are constantly evolving and each institution should tailor this curriculum to fit their specific trainee needs and institutional expertise.