Stewarding the Vulnerable Moments | Audrey Shafer, MD

Aug 9, 2022

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What is it like to comfort patients in the moments before they surrender consciousness to undergo surgery? What can the humanities teach us about being present for a patient when they are at their most vulnerable? As an anesthesiologist and founding director of Medicine and the Muse, Stanford Medicine’s health humanities program, Audrey Shafer, MD has spent her career pondering and addressing these questions. In this episode, Dr. Shafer discusses how her exploits in the humanities have shaped her career in medicine, gives us an intimate and vivid picture of the vital work anesthesiologists do, and shares what her recent personal experiences with cancer have taught her about what it means to truly care for patients.

In this episode, you will hear about:

How growing up in an artistic household initially pushed Dr. Shafer away from the arts and toward a medical career - 1:51
Why Dr. Shafer chose to become an anesthesiologist - 5:51
Dr. Shafer’s discovery of the medical humanities and how she would later create the first program of its type at Stanford Medicine - 8:57
A discussion of what the medical humanities are and a defense of its value - 12:00
Reflections on the profound privilege of being an anesthesiologist and a medical educator - 17:45
A behind-the-scenes look at an anesthesiologist’s work - 25:02
Dr. Shafer’s recent cancer diagnosis and her treatment journey - 34:29
Advice for clinicians and medical students about seeing patients’ illnesses within the greater context of their lives - 41:15

Follow Dr. Shafer on Twitter @AudreyShafer.

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