Dr. Faryal Michaud is a board certified internist and a palliative care physician that is here today to discuss How To Have a Better Conversation About Your Health. She believes there is a misunderstanding of what palliative care is. She describes this type of care as a layer of support to help through the bumpy road of an illness, and to help families be able to connect to services. The layer of support is different for every patient and their family. And, only if the bumpy road is too much, then hospice would get involved, but that is not the palliative care role.
She stresses the importance of understanding what the patient and family knows, and what it is that they want to do. She talks about the -Wish, Worry, Wonder Guide. This model can be explained by saying – I wish you could get better, then worry about the type of care that the patient can get and if they will improve, and then finally, wonder if we should have a conversation about this.
Dr. Faryal Michaud has been practicing inpatient palliative care medicine for the past 10 years which she believes is her true passion. Around the time of COVID, and having moved to Hawaii with her husband and two teenage daughters, she felt incredibly isolated and decided to start a podcast focusing on teaching patients and physicians how to have difficult conversations surrounding end of life issues. Her podcast, “Write Your Last Chapter” has been popular domestically and internationally, creating further evidence that this topic is both poorly understood and deeply needed.
She then decided to start “Physicians Living Intentionally” to focus on what matters as well as provide a space for poetry and reflection. In 2021 she started her business of life coaching for women physicians focusing on teaching how to live intentionally every day. As a certified mindfulness teacher, her program offers ongoing teachings by certified yoga, and mindfulness teachers, as well as group and one on one coaching. She also provides pro bono coaching for patients suffering from serious illness who are unable to afford her services.
She has created a simple 3 step guide to have difficult conversations that can be applied to clinicians as well as moms everywhere on her website: www.drfaryal.com.
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