As Medicine X came to a close Sunday, ePatient and American Idol participant Marvin Calderon Jr. gave a special vocal performance that moved audience members to their feet and ended in an explosion of colorful streamers falling from the top of the main auditorium at the School of Medicine's Li Ka Shing Center for Learning and Knowledge.
The three-day event, which was attended by more than 650 people and watched via live webcast by several thousand more, is Stanford's premier conference on emerging health-care technology and patient-centered medicine. The conference hashtag #MedX was a top-trending term on Twitter in the U.S. throughout the conference, with more than 48,000 tweets sent out between Thursday and Sunday.
Medicine X has historically examined how social media, mobile-health devices, and other technologies influence the doctor-patient relationship. But this year, the program also focused on how partnerships forged between health-care providers, patients and pharmaceutical industry would define the medical team of the future, amplify patients' voices, and shape medical education. Along with the topics of relationships and connectedness, a number of key themes emerged over the course of the conference, including engagement, empathy, and the imp0rtance of treating the whole person.
Daniel Siegel, MD, clinical professor of psychiatry at UCLA, touched on several of these themes during his opening talk about developing a healthy mind, an integrated brain, and empathetic relationships. "Our relationships give us a sense of being seen, of feeling felt, of feeling connected. Those are the fundamental ways we create well-being in our bodily lives," he said. "We live in connection to each other... Relationship experiences that are stressful early in life can lead to medical problems later."
Several sessions put a special spotlight on the importance of treating the whole person and the link between mental and physical health. Patients shared their experiences with depression and anxiety, and many revealed how they had to grieve the loss of their healthy self in order to accept their new life. They also spoke about how they felt weakened by their mental-health condition and struggled to be empowered, or proactive, in their health care. Gonzalo Bacigalupe, EdD, MPH, a psychologist and professor of counseling and school psychology at the University of Massachusetts Boston, told patients, "Maybe the 'e' in ePatient is not enough. Maybe you need a 'c' that stands for connected. If you are connected, then the burden that you are feeling can be shared."
Sentiments about the need to foster empathy in medicine were discussed in parallel panels and during coffee break chats. Emily Bradley, an ePatient with a rare type of autoimmune arthritis, told attendees at a session about invisible pain, "I don't fault my loved ones for not understanding my pain. I don't want them to understand and I'm glad that they don't. I think what's missing is empathy." Liza Bernstein, an ePatient advisor and three-time cancer survivor, told attendees at the closing ceremony, "Empathy doesn't need that much. All empathy needs is us."
The conference also tried to keep a focus on all different types of patient populations - including those who underserved. "There is a disconnect between solutions being build and the needs of vulnerable populations," said Veenu Aulakh, executive director of the Center for Care Innovation during a talk on the "no smart-phone" patient. "We need to be designing [solutions] for today, not the future, and the 91 percent of patients that have a text-enabled phone."
Larry Chu, MD, executive director of the conference (pictured above with Bernstein), warmly greeted the audience each morning - and on Saturday had a special announcement: the launch of Medicine X Academy, a new effort aimed at continuing to build community among all stakeholders in health care and filling important gaps in medical education. The initiative will include a second conference in 2015 titled Stanford Medicine X ED (currently scheduled for Sept. 23-24, 2015). Joining Chu on stage to talk about the initiative, Bryan Vartabedian, MD, a Baylor College of Medicine physician and a longtime speaker at the conference, told attendees that medical education is "ripe for disruption." And he noted that Medicine X - which has evolved "from an annual meeting into a global movement," was poised to take it on.
Speaking of a global movement, there was very much a sense during the weekend that what was happening was bigger than just a conference - with at least one panel moderator telling attendees, "This conversation doesn't end when we leave the stage.” And Bernstein summed up the three days of panels, presentations and powerful Ignite talks from ePatients saying, "I leave here re-energized, recharged, re-inspired and I hope you do too. Stay in touch on Twitter and see you next year!"
More news about Stanford Medicine X is available in the Medicine X category.
Previously: Medicine X explores the relationship between mental and physical health: “I don’t usually talk about this”, At Medicine X, four innovators talk teaching digital literacy and professionalism in medical school, What makes a good doctor – and can data help us find one?, Medicine X aims to “fill the gaps” in medical education, Stanford Medicine X 2014 kicks off today and Medicine X spotlights mental health, medical team of the future and the “no-smartphone” patient
Photo by Stanford Medicine X
