CBSSM Seminar: Rana Awdish, MD

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Thu, February 15, 2018, 3:00pm
Location: 
NCRC, Building 16, Room 266C

Dr. Rana Awdish is the author of In Shock, a memoir based on her own critical illness. She is also Director of the Pulmonary Hypertension Program at Henry Ford Hospital in Detroit and a practicing Critical Care Physician. She lectures to physicians, health care leaders and medical schools across the country on the necessity of compassionate care. She was recently named Medical Director of Care Experience for the Health System.

In Shock will describe Dr. Awdish's personal transformation from critical care physician to critically ill patient and describe how the events surrounding her near death changed her understanding of the culture of medicine and lead her to alter the course of her institution. Focusing on Physician communication training, narrative medicine and visual thinking strategies, and a culture of caring, she will illuminate the path towards creating a more resilient culture for everyone involved in health care.

 Objectives:

1. Describe the ecosystem of medical training and practice and the way it compromises empathy and compassion.

2. Illustrate how medical humanities and a purpose driven culture can be used to promote a culture of resilience.

3. Recognize the barriers to implementing institutional change and empowering individuals.

4. Identify practices that will engage providers and leaders in promoting development of resilient systems.

Rana Awdish, MD
Director, Pulmonary Hypertension Program, Henry Ford Hospital, and Medical Director, Care Experience, Henry Ford Health System, Detroit, MI

Dr. Rana Awdish is the Director of the Pulmonary Hypertension Program at Henry Ford Hospital in Detroit and a Critical Care Physician. She also serves as Medical Director of Care Experience for the Henry Ford Health System. Dr. Awdish’s mandate as well as her passion is to improve the patient experience across the system. 

After suffering a sudden critical illness herself in 2008, she has become a tireless activist, refocusing her fellow providers on the patient experience and improving empathy through connection and communication. She lectures to physicians, hospital leadership and medical schools around the country. Her book, In Shock: My Journey from Death to Recovery and the Redemptive Power of Hope, has been featured in the Washington Post, NPR, The Today Show, The Times Literary Supplement, and is now an LA Times Bestseller.

Dr. Awdish received the Schwartz Center’s National Compassionate Caregiver of the Year Award in 2017. She was named Physician of the Year by Press Ganey in 2017 for her work on improving communication, and received the Critical Care Teaching Award in 2016. She, along with three others, began the CLEAR Conversations Project at Henry Ford, using improvisational actors to train physicians in patient-centered empathic communication. 

Prior to coming to Henry Ford, Dr. Awdish completed her training at Mount Sinai Beth Israel in Manhattan. She attended Wayne State University Medical School, and completed her undergraduate degree at the University of Michigan in Ann Arbor. She is board-certified in Internal Medicine, Pulmonary and Critical Care Medicine.