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In this talk, the speakers will address this critical need by showing how story-telling and story-hearing can foster better communication among all members of a patient’s care team to improve outcomes. Specifically, it will illustrate the importance of the different perspectives to connect patients and providers, infuse medical practice with humanism, and transform exam rooms, consultations, and daily rounds from impersonal procedures to individualized, valuable conversations. This is vital to understanding the struggles people endure as patients, parents, and providers, especially those from marginalized communities.

Bio Info

Each speaker is working with a memoir that recounts their individual experiences with our healthcare system. In each case, the subtitle provides context. Diane Shader Smith will speak for her daughter, the author of the posthumously published, Salt in My Soul: An Unfinished Life. Maryanne O’Hara’s Little Matches is “A Memoir of Grief and Light.” Dr. Weill’s title is, Exhale: Hope, Healing and a Life in Transplant.

Diane Shader Smith is a writer, speaker, and publicist. She was on the writing staff of a soap opera, has bylined articles, and authored several books including the widely publicized Undressing Infidelity. She’s represented household brands, products, and celebrities on behalf of her clients and is a respected lecturer on myriad topics.

Maryanne O’Hara is a lifelong fiction writer whose short stories and a novel, Cascade, have met with critical acclaim and commercial success. She holds an MFA in creative writing, has taught at the college level, was a longtime editor at the literary journal, Ploughshares, and serves as an end-of-life volunteer at care facilities.

Dr. David Weill is the former Director of the Center for Advanced Lung Disease and Lung and Heart-Lung Transplant Program at Stanford University Medical Center. He is now the Principal of the Weill Consulting Group which focuses on improving the delivery of pulmonary, ICU, and transplant care.

It would be hard to find a media outlet that hasn’t interviewed one of these three or published one of their articles. Their collective resume of TV appearances and articles is quite impressive and includes: The New York Times, The Wall Street Journal, The Today Show, The LA Times, STAT News, Time Magazine, USA Today, CNN, and FOX News.