Speaker Series

The Schwartz Center began its speaker series to raise awareness about the patient-caregiver relationship to the general public. These events are open to the public and free of charge. They offer a chance for non-clinicians and clinicians alike to share their experiences through the presentation and question and answer format.

2009 - Fall
"Patient-Centeredness and Patient Safety: How Are They Interconnected?"
Featured Speaker: Donald M. Berwick, MD, MPP, FRCP, Institute for Healthcare Improvement, President and CEO
Panelists: Pat Folcarelli, RN, PhD, Director, Patient Safety, Beth Israel Deaconess Medical Center; Tejal Gandhi, MD, MPH, Executive Director of Quality and Safety, Brigham and Women's Hospital; Kari Dudley, Patient, Dana-Farber Cancer Institute
Click here to view Dr. Berwick's program presentation, "Designing on Purpose"

2009 - Winter
The Christian Minard Memorial Forum: Promoting Compassionate Care for Patients with ALS
"A Positive Outlook on Negative News."
Panelists: Matt Bellanich, NP; Merit Cudkowicz, MD, MSc, Director Neurology Clinical Trials Unit and ALS Clinic Associate Professor of Neurology, Harvard Medical School; Darlene Electa Pulley, Clinical Trials Unit, Program Manager
Facilitator: Lawrence Kron, PhD, Former Co-Director, Center for Coping with Chronic Illness and Psychologist, Private Practice

2008 - Fall
"Compassionate and Effective Communication at End of Life: Overcoming the Barriers."
Panelists: Susan Block, MD, Chair, Department of Psychosocial Oncology and Palliative Care Dana-Farber Cancer Institute and Brigham and Women's Hospital, Professor, Harvard Medical School; Lois Green, MPA, Cancer Patient, Board Chairman, Better Ending Partnership, Director of the Geriatric Clerkship, UMass Medical School; Barbara Moscowitz, MSW, LICSW, Social Worker, Massachusetts General Hospital Geriatric Medicine Unit, Schwartz Center Compassionate Caregiver Award 2007 recipient; Christine Rachwal, RN, MS, Educator, Neonatal Intensive Care Unit, Children’s Hospital Boston; Sheila Trugman, MD, Medical Director, Jewish HealthCare Center and Jewish Home Hospice, Assistant Professor, UMass Medical School.
Moderator: Lynn Nicholas, FACHE, President and CEO, Massachusetts Hospital Association.

2008 - Spring
"Compassionate and Effective Communication at End of Life: Overcoming the Barriers."
Panelists: Lois Green, MPA, Cancer Patient, Board Chairman, Better Ending Partnership
Director of the Geriatric Clerkship, University of Massachusetts Medical School; Helen Mullen, RN, Pediatric Oncology Nurse, UMass Memorial Medical Center, Schwartz Center Compassionate Caregiver Award 2004 recipient; Sheila Trugman, MD, Medical Director, Jewish HealthCare Center and Jewish Home Hospice Assistant Professor, University of Massachusetts Medical School.
Moderator: Eric Shultz, President and CEO, Fallon Community Health Plan.

2007
"Caregivers as Patients: Transforming Personal Experiences into Better Care"
Panelists: Rosanna DeMarco, PhD, APRN, BC, ACRN, Associate Professor, William F. Connell School of Nursing at Boston College; Susan Edgman-Levitan, PA Executive Director, John D. Stoeckle Center for Primary Care Innovation, Massachusetts General Hospital; Fredric Frigoletto, Jr., MD
Associate Chief, Vincent Obstetrics and Gynecology Services, Massachusetts General Hospital; Paula O'Connor, MD, Medical Director, Tarceva, Genentech, Inc. Facilitator:  Richard Bohmer, MD, MPH, Senior Lecturer, Technology and Operations, Harvard Business School

2006
‘‘Patient and Family Voices: What it Takes to Really Listen’’
Jim Conway, Senior Fellow, Institute for Healthcare Improvement, and Senior Consultant, Dana-Farber Cancer Institute, Boston

2005
‘‘The Power of Apology’’
Lucian Leape, MD, Adjunct Professer of Health Policy and Mangement, Harvard School of Public Health, Boston

2004
‘‘Literature and Medicine: Bridging the Divide’’
Rita Charon, MD, PhD, Director of the Program in Narrative Medicine, Columbia University Medical Center, New York

2003
‘‘Hurry Up and Relax’’
Ann Webster, PhD, Mind/Body Medical Institute, Boston

2002
‘‘Healing Stories: Remember Our Power’’
Rachel Naomi Remen, MD, renowned physician and author of the New York Times bestseller Kitchen Table Wisdom: Stories that Heal