ABP Pediatric Palliative case studies
ABP Pediatric Palliative · Put your knowledge to work in context.
The American Board of Pediatrics (ABP), with other specialty boards, offers a certificate in Hospice and Palliative Medicine. For pediatric candidates, it is a subspecialty certification layered on initial certification in general pediatrics or a pediatric subspecialty, and that certification must be maintained. The exam assesses hospice and palliative medicine, but the ABP page is a requirements page, not a content blueprint; it does not list domains or weights. Candidates should use the ABP subspecialty content outline to organize study and confirm current dates, format, and scoring directly with the ABP, because the page says criteria are subject to change. The ABP Pediatric Palliative case studies are 5 cases and about 3,863 words.
1Whole-Body Jerking After a Morphine Increase: Pain or Neurotoxicity?
Malik is 9 years old with relapsed high-risk neuroblastoma involving bone marrow and the epidural space. He is enrolled in concurrent hospice care at home.
742 words, about 4 min2A Capacitated 15-Year-Old, Parents Who Want “Everything,” and Unspoken Prognosis
Jada is 15 years old with cystic fibrosis. Her FEV1 is 26% of predicted, she uses nocturnal BiPAP, she is oxygen-dependent at rest, and she has been admitted three times in six months.
798 words, about 4 min3Agonal Breathing at Home and a Mother Reaching for the Phone
Ana is 5 years old with a diffuse midline glioma, now in the last days of life at home under a pediatric concurrent hospice program. When the on-call clinician returns the call, her mother is holding the phone beside her.
752 words, about 4 min4A Sibling Donor Who Believes She Caused Her Brother's Death
Theo died five months ago at age 7 of relapsed ALL. His sister Mira, now 10, was his bone marrow donor.
794 words, about 4 min5Tracheostomy, Faith, and an Eight-Year-Old Interpreter
Lina is 4 years old and ventilator-dependent after a drowning seven months ago, with severe hypoxic-ischemic injury: no purposeful movement, no visual tracking, and cortical blindness. She has a gastrostomy tube, and a tracheostomy is now being discussed.
777 words, about 4 min