Miami, Florida, October 2, 2007—Domingo Gomez, MD, of Miami Beach, a Team Physician for VITAS Innovative Hospice Care® of Dade-Monroe, has been re-certified by the American Board of Hospice and Palliative Medicine (ABHPM). This distinction places Dr. Gomez among an elite group of physicians who have met the highest clinical and academic standards of the hospice and palliative medicine specialty. Dr. Gomez was first board certified in hospice and palliative care medicine in 1999. He also is board certified in family practice medicine.

As a team physician, Dr. Gomez, who joined VITAS in 1980, provides and oversees palliative care and symptom management for terminally ill patients in Miami-Dade and Monroe counties and educates healthcare professionals and physicians on the benefits of hospice care.

ABHPM certification is an arduous process that requires a physician to first become board certified in his or her specialty (internal medicine or geriatric medicine, for example). The physician then is expected to meet several clinical criteria, including participating directly in the care of at least 50 terminally ill patients. Finally, the physician must pass a comprehensive written examination.

VITAS was only two years old—and one of the nation’s first hospice programs—when Dr. Gomez joined it in 1980 as a physician and then medical director.

“During my residency in family practice, I would see terminally ill patients in the hospital and emergency room with uncontrolled symptoms who weren’t getting appropriate pain management. It was quite upsetting,” says Dr. Gomez. “I was interested in this new hospice and as soon as I started seeing patients in their homes, I was hooked on hospice care.

“The advances in hospice and palliative care medicine have been quite incredible since then; becoming board certified demonstrates that a physician has kept up with the advances,” he adds. “I’m still proud to work with VITAS; it is a very ethical company.”

Dr. Gomez received his medical degree from the Universidad Complutense in Madrid, Spain. He completed a residency in family medicine at the University of Miami. He received additional training in hospice and palliative care medicine at McGill University in Montreal, Quebec, Canada.