VCU pediatrician earns certification in hospice and palliative medicine

By Michael Ford
University News Services

RICHMOND, Va. – A Virginia Commonwealth University pediatrician has joined a select group of doctors who care for children and have earned dual certification in hospice and palliative medicine.

Bob A. Archuleta, M.D., Walter E. Bundy, Jr. professor and chair of the Division of Community Pediatrics in the VCU Department of Pediatrics, is one of only 18 pediatricians in the United States with dual certification in hospice and palliative care medicine and pediatrics.

“Dr. Archuleta can now be included among a rare group of pediatric specialists,” said Joseph A. Laver, M.D., professor and chair of pediatrics at the VCU Medical Center. 

A practicing pediatrician in the Richmond area for 24 years, Archuleta is also the founder of Noah’s Children Pediatric Hospice and Home Palliative Care Program. He has served as medical director of the hospice for five years.

Palliative care focuses on achieving the best possible quality of life for the patient and family throughout the course of a life threatening illness through the relief of suffering and the control of symptoms. Palliative medicine helps the patient and family face the prospect of death assured that comfort will be a priority, values and decisions will be respected, and spiritual and psychological needs will be addressed. In the United States, hospice is an organized program that provides palliative care for terminally ill patients and supportive services to patients and their families.

Archuleta earned his bachelor’s degree from the University of Wyoming and his medical degree from the University of Colorado School of Medicine. A member of the U.S. Army Medical Corps for seven years, Archuleta was honorably discharged as a Major during a career that included two years as chief of pediatrics at Kenner Army Hospital at Fort Lee, Va.

Formed in 1995, the American Board of Hospice and Palliative Medicine conducts its certification examination in hospice and palliative medicine annually at multiple sites throughout the U.S. Currently nearly 1,500 physicians have been certified by meeting certification requirements, including successfully completing the examination. For a list of certified physicians and more of the board, go to www.ABHPM.org.