Symposium Speaker Navigating Difficult Discussions

Navigating Difficult Discussions

Symposium Speaker Offers Tips to Improve Care Team-Patient Conversations

On the final day of Rana Awdish’s pulmonary critical care fellowship, she became critically ill and ended up in intensive care. While on life support, she heard her care team discuss her in a way that made her rethink the way she interacts with patients.

Conversations with patients should be nurturing and allow health care professionals “to hold space for the deepest thoughts, worries and values of our patients and families,” says Dr. Awdish, M.D.¸ director of Henry Ford Health System’s pulmonary hypertension (PH) program.

Dr. Awdish will share her insight Oct. 2 on “Navigating Difficult Discussions in PH,” at the Pulmonary Hypertension Association (PHA)’s virtual Pulmonary Hypertension Professional Network (PHPN) Symposium. Symposium is a biennial event for allied health professionals who treat people with PH.

Dr. Awdish began working with PH patients when she was in residency at Beth Israel Medical Center in New York. A young patient had come to the ICU with a large pericardial effusion, or excess fluid in the sac-like structure around the heart.

The build-up of fluid was a result of pulmonary arterial hypertension (PAH) that had long gone unrecognized. After surgery to drain the fluid, the patient had complications and later died. That experience taught Dr. Awdish about the devastation of PH, the danger caused by lack of knowledge about the disease physiology, and the importance of specialty care.

The experience continues to motivate Dr. Awdish today, as does her own experience of being a critically ill patient.

In her Symposium session, Dr. Awdish will discuss patient-care team conversations and how care teams can

encourage their patients to better participate in and navigate their medical care journeys.

She hopes attendees will gain a sense of the kinds of conversations possible in care settings. In patient visits, PH providers should help people with PH navigate their complex medical journeys and emotional reactions, as well recommend treatment options, she says.

Because of the power dynamic in medicine, patients often don’t know what’s possible in terms of their care, or what questions to ask, Dr. Awdish says.

This year’s PHPN Symposium, “PHiguring Out the Puzzle: Pieces to Innovative, Patient-Centered Care,” opens Sept. 30 with Advocacy Day and runs through Oct. 3.

This year, Symposium will be virtual for the first time because of the COVID-19 pandemic. Traditionally, PHtreating health care professionals gather in Washington, D.C., for professional development, networking, fundraising and advocacy.

Advocacy Day and Trivia Night, two popular features, also will continue this year in digital formats. Trivia Night, set for Oct. 1, will raise money for patient scholarships to PHA 2022 International PH Conference and Scientific Sessions. Trivia Night 2019 raised more than $10,000 for PHA’s Conference Scholarship Fund.

Because of the power dynamic in medicine, patients often don’t know what’s possible in terms of their care, or what questions to ask.

LEARN MORE: PHAssociation.org/symposium

 SYMPOSIUM HIGHLIGHTS 

Lightning-round poster presentations

Attendees can earn continuing education credit for visiting abstract authors in the virtual exhibit hall and listen to lightning-round presentations of some of the most compelling research.

Pediatric programming

Pediatric topics will be scheduled for every breakout session during the conference. Program information applies to pediatric and adult patients.

Accredited education sessions

Attendees of the online event can earn up to 12.5 hours of continuing medical education credit/continuing education units for breakout and general sessions, as well as poster hall presentations. An additional 12 hours can be earned afterward through on-demand recordings.