Season 5 Episode 6: Making Space for non-physical suffering - Dr Maxxine Rattner

Season 5 Episode 6: Making Space for non-physical suffering - Dr Maxxine Rattner

Dr. Maxxine Rattner is a hospice/palliative care clinician and educator who recently completed her PhD on the topic of non-physical suffering. In this episode, we discuss the challenges in addressing non-physical suffering and the importance of making space within palliative care to do this intrinsically difficult work and approach the work without the expectation of “fixing” suffering. 

Season 5 Episode 5: Cultural humility in healthcare - Dr Zhimeng Jia

Season 5 Episode 5: Cultural humility in healthcare - Dr Zhimeng Jia

Dr. Zhimeng Jia is a palliative care physician at the Temmy Latner Centre for Palliative Care in Toronto.  Through a combination of personal and clinical experiences, Dr. Jia developed an interest in health inequities that Asian immigrants experience at the end-of-life. In this episode, he shares the lessons he has learned in providing culturally aware care to patients and their families.

Season 5 Episode 4: Wrap Around Support: Caring for the Seriously Ill Child - Dr Dave Lysecki

Season 5 Episode 4: Wrap Around Support: Caring for the Seriously Ill Child - Dr Dave Lysecki

Dr. David Lysecki is the Founder and Medical Director of the Quality of Life & Advanced Care Program at McMaster Children's Hospital. In this episode, Dr. Lysecki discusses his experience working in pediatric palliative care, and how he navigates both the rewards and challenges of working in this area. We also discuss how we can ensure that palliative care and pediatric palliative care become the work of all health care providers.

Season 5 Episode 3: Finding Joy in Every Day: When your child is diagnosed with a terminal illness - Mishi Methven

Season 5 Episode 3: Finding Joy in Every Day: When your child is diagnosed with a terminal illness - Mishi Methven

Shortly after Stella Joy turned two, Mishi Methven and her partner Aimee were given the devastating news that their daughter only had months to live.  In this episode, Mishi shares how they navigated Stella’s diagnosis of a fatal brain tumour - Diffuse Intrinsic Pontine Glioma - guided by the philosophy of finding joy in the every day.

Season 5 Episode 2: Through the Patient’s Lens: Advocacy from the Inside - Julie Vizza

Season 5 Episode 2: Through the Patient’s Lens: Advocacy from the Inside - Julie Vizza

Julie Vizza was born with a multifaceted genetic condition, beta thalassemia-major. She joins the podcast today to discuss her journey in the healthcare system and how these experiences have inspired her work as a patient advocate; providing a voice for those with complex health care needs with an aim to improve the system for all.

Season 5 Episode 1: Breaking the Barriers of Ableism - Billy Bridges

Season 5 Episode 1: Breaking the Barriers of Ableism - Billy Bridges

In this episode, Billy Bridges shares his inspiring ideas for addressing ableism with empathy and offers a rallying cry for disability advocacy. Billy Bridges is an extraordinary Canadian athlete who has represented his country in six Paralympic Games, winning gold (2006), bronze (2014, 2018), and silver (2022) medals. He's also a four-time World Champion, including two Championship MVP awards, and was the youngest recruit to the Canadian sledge hockey team at 14 years old. But that's not all - Billy is also an accomplished athlete in wheelchair basketball and tennis, a motivational speaker, mentor, and ambassador for para sports. Born in PEI, he spent most of his youth in Ontario due to his medical needs for Spina Bifida.

Season 4 Episode 6: Doctor as Patient - Serena Tejpar

Season 4 Episode 6:  Doctor as Patient - Serena Tejpar

At the young age of 18, Serena Tejpar was injured in a car collision as a backseat passenger that left her in critical condition with almost no chance of survival.  Despite the many challenges that came with her injuries, she was determined to get better and return to her daily activities. This trauma reaffirmed Serena’s interest in medicine as a career. She is currently attending medical school at the Temerty Faculty of Medicine in Toronto. In this episode, Serena reflects on how her experience with serious injury and recovery drives her to live a life of purpose and of service to others and ensure that patients are provided compassionate care that will lead to positive health outcomes and experiences.

Season 4 Episode 5: Brian’s Story: Living Fully and Completely - Brian Smith

Season 4 Episode 5: Brian’s Story: Living Fully and Completely - Brian Smith

In 2022, Brian Smith’s life was profoundly changed by a diagnosis of metastatic cancer. In this episode, Brian shares his experiences of living with cancer, the supports he relied on to get him through a challenging series of treatments and how his cancer seemingly expanded his life’s horizons.

Season 4 Episode 4: Person-Centered Care Pearls: A Conversation with Dr. Harvey Chochinov (Part 2)

Season 4 Episode 4: Person-Centered Care Pearls: A Conversation with Dr. Harvey Chochinov (Part 2)

Dr. Harvey Max Chochinov is a psychiatrist well known in the field of palliative care especially around his work in dignity. In this 2 part episode, we chat about the importance of compassionate and dignity conserving care. He provides the learners with many pearls on how to bring this important and essential style of care to the bedside through our discussion of the dignity question, the platinum rule and his other work and research in this area.

Season 4 Episode 3: Person-Centered Care Pearls: A Conversation with Dr. Harvey Chochinov (Part 1)

Season 4 Episode 3: Person-Centered Care Pearls: A Conversation with Dr. Harvey Chochinov (Part 1)

Dr. Harvey Max Chochinov is a psychiatrist well known in the field of palliative care especially around his work in dignity. In this 2 part episode, we chat about the importance of compassionate and dignity conserving care. He provides the learners with many pearls on how to bring this important and essential style of care to the bedside through our discussion of the dignity question, the platinum rule and his other work and research in this area.