Serious illness communication helps clinicians navigate emotionally complex conversations, align treatment with patient values, and support more compassionate, patient-centered care. Clinicians often face difficult discussions about serious illness, prognosis, and care preferences, yet many lack formal training in the communication skills needed to navigate these conversations. This gap can lead to challenges in care […]
Dr Max Charles leads a group at TRI-UC The Conversation Lab continues to further the call to put communication skills training at the forefront of the agenda within UHN. Palliative Care has been on site routinely at TRI-UC since July 2024 as part of a new initiative to address the increasing patient complexity for their […]
Dr Karen Okrainec Dr Richard Dunbar-Yaffe Karen Okrainec, MD is a General Internal Medicine physician and clinician scientist at UHN, and VitalTalk faculty partnering with The Conversation Lab research team to advance serious illness communication implementation work across UHN sites. Richard Dunbar-Yaffe, MD is a General Internal Medicine physician and Assistant Professor in Clinician Quality and Innovation […]
The Conversation Lab enjoyed the rare opportunity to bring a small group of our community of facilitators together in-person. On November 20, 2024 we held our first facilitator retreat at the Cancer Education Library at Princess Margaret Hospital in Toronto. Over lunch, 11 local facilitators celebrated their teaching accomplishments, were introduced to the Lab’s post-doctoral […]
Sylvia, Caregiver Sylvia was a caregiver to her father who was in and out of the hospital for years related to complications from living with type 1 diabetes and heart disease. He had several amputations, the biggest being a below-the-knee amputation that resulted in a prolonged hospital stay where he eventually became unable to make […]
Jalal Ebrahim, MD Dr. Ebrahim has taught five workshops since our program began in 2022 Speciality: Palliative Care A graduate of our first cohort in 2022, Jalal continously contributes valuable input to refine our teaching tools and workshops.
Spotlight on: Arielle Berger, MD Dr. Berger is a stellar facilitator who has taught six workshops since our program began in 2022 Speciality: Geriatrics Favourite Movie:
Jalal Ebrahim, MD Dr. Ebrahim has taught five workshops since our program began in 2022 Speciality: Palliative Care A graduate of our first cohort in 2022, Jalal continously contributes valuable input to refine our teaching tools and workshops.
Spotlight on: Arielle Berger, MD Dr. Berger is a stellar facilitator who has taught six workshops since our program began in 2022 Speciality: Geriatrics Favourite Movie:
