Very excited for tomorrow's virtual #HPM didactic on palliative care in ALS. It reminds me of a story...1/5 https://twitter.com/BenWThompson/status/1327643572766642177

This was from when I first made my mid-career switch into #HaPC and before my #HPM fellowship. I was doing home hospice visits. One of my patients had ALS and had opted for "full code" status when he enrolled in hospice. I wanted to revisit his wishes with him and his wife. 2/5

I felt uncomfortable and tried to be very careful in how I spoke with them so as not to upset them. In reality, I made things awkward. I stumbled over my words until the patient's wife kindly said, "We can see how difficult this is for you." I was mortified. 3/5

It was a wake-up call and a great lesson: the more uncomfortable I was having difficult conversations, the more uncomfortable my patients would be.

I'm grateful I had the opportunity to go on to complete a #HPM fellowship... 4/5

...but no matter what field you're in, do what you can to seek out opportunities to learn the skills to have these conversations so that you're not as uncomfortable and awkward as I was! Your patients and their families will thank you. #HaPC 5/5