Alumni

Our alumni work in a variety of leadership, administrative, and education roles in hospice and palliative medicine programs across the country, and have shaped our fellowship into the educational experience it is today. 

 

Alumni are involved in fellow small group didactics and career nights, and serve as contacts and mentors for fellows exploring career opportunities after fellowship.

 

Many of our program faculty across our core sites at SCVMC (Thuy Pham, Nicky Quinlan), the Palo Alto VA (Sachi Gianchandani, Hana Glaser, Christine Le), and Stanford (Josh Fronk, Joe Hannah, Stephanie Harman, Torrey Simons, Sandy Trieu, Jeremy Uang) are graduates of our program and remain actively involved in the fellowship. 

A number of our faculty and graduates have an active interest in narrative medicine and storytelling, and several of our fellows have published their creative work during their fellowship and taken elective time to work on their writing. 

 

Stanford has a medical humanities program Medicine and the Muse, and several of our program faculty and fellows have been involved in storytelling nights, writing groups and workshops. 

Bearing witness in the time of COVID by Dr. Mukie Ramkumar

In February 2021, Dr. Mukie Ramkumar’s piece “Bearing witness in the time of COVID” was published as part of Lancet Respiratory Medicine’s call for stories: 

I no longer had any other words to say as I gently touched his forehead...What was I supposed to say or do in this moment once his symptoms were managed? I usually slipped out of the room once a patient was comfortable and let family be alone during the last moments of their loved one's life. I could not leave my patient alone in this moment. Was I playing the role of a family member? Words seemed pointless. ICU doctors are very accustomed to death, but this was different. It was not supposed to be this way.

The Labor of Storytelling by Dr. Megan Ann Brandeland

In March 2022, Dr. Megan Brandeland published a call for shared vulnerability in “The Labor of Storytelling” in JAMA’s A Piece of My Mind. 

The labor and art of story telling has the power to transform our lives. In sharing and receiving stories, we connect more deeply to one another: We become more real, more fully human. We feel less alone. The labor of story telling is not necessarily easy, though. It requires honesty, vulnerability, and the courage to contact the wounded places within ourselves. Sadly, these are not things that most of us are taught to do as physicians. Instead, we learn early on in medical training that it is risky to be our authentic selves, to acknowledge our imperfections, and to share our struggles.

Later that year, Dr. Brandeland published another perspective piece called "Sorrow on the Shoreline" alongside two colleagues in JAMA Cardiology about their shared experience of joining a roadside medical emergency and CPR efforts while on vacation just after finishing fellowship. 

We stood in this silence for several minutes, unsure when and how to leave. Caroline continued to stay close to the partner to offer human connection and support. Allie and Meg spoke with the first responders about the challenges of providing medical care in such a remote landscape. After several minutes, the patient’s partner approached the patient’s body, knelt down, and grasped the patient’s hand. 

Story Rounds Dr. Jason Lyou

In November 2023, Dr. Jason Lyou participated in a live storytelling event on campus called Story Rounds, a forum for health care workers to connect around their experiences as healers and humans. He shared about a powerful experience he had caring for a young person in the emergency department who was dying and his interactions with their family. Weaving tarot and medical terminology together, he shared the emotions and impact that the event had and also the way he processed the transition from resuscitationist to palliative care doctor.