PediPal

Welcome to a special "Best of" PediPal episode! The notion, concept, and implementation of silence is integral to the practice of pediatric palliative care. Perhaps even more important than what we say is what we don't say, and how we don't say it, and when it isn't said. Join Sarah and Dan for an exploration of this truly golden feature of our specialty.

"Even a fool is thought wise if he keeps silent, and discerning if he holds his tongue." Proverbs 17:28

A social worker, a nurse practitioner, and three physicians walk into a podcast... There's no punchline, just the latest episode of PediPal, where Dan and Sarah interview three of the interprofessional fellows from the Boston Children's interprofessional fellowship program--Jennifer Donovan, Amy Porter, and Thomas Haire--and challenge ourselves to say the word "interprofessional" as many times as possible. We also include some clips from past episodes that resonate with the themes from the interview, so listen up for some old familiar voices from PediPal history.

How do you talk to a child about illness and death? For a field that deals with these challenging topics every day, we don't always feel comfortable helping our young patients and their families engage with them.  For guidance, Dan and Sarah turn to Elena Lister (@elenalistermd1) and Michael Schwartzman (@schwartzmanma), authors of Giving Hope: Conversations with Children About Illness, Death, and Loss.


Links to buy Giving Hope here at Indie Bound and Penguin Random House; available in hardcover, ebook, and audiobook formats.

The holiday season is ending and boy are we stuffed... with educational and entertaining content about one of pediatric palliative care's more misunderstood and controversial topics: overfeeding. Sarah and Dan round out 2022 talking with skeletal dysplasia expert Ricki Carroll (@RickiCarroll), hospice guru Glen Komatsu, and the inimitable Julie Hauer about those times when our patients are getting too much nutrition and all the problems that can cause. 

Does practicing pediatric palliation promote positive parenting? Does parenthood put palliative practitioners in a preferable position? Dan and Sarah partner up to ponder these profound puzzles and palaver with Jessica Casas and Daniel Mahoney (@DanielMahoneyMD),  and Claire Crawford (@PalliativClaire), all from the Pediatric Advanced Care Team at Texas Children's Hospital.

(CN: This episode deals with the topic of pregnancy loss.)

In our final international episode, Sarah and Dan speak with Doctora Rut Kiman (@KimanRut) about pediatric palliative care in Argentina and throughout Latin America.

Curative therapy and hospice... at the same time?! Since the Affordable Care Act, pediatric patients don't have to give up one to benefit from the other. But does this model really work, and does it make sense for the realities of pediatric palliative care and hospice as in 2022? To figure it all out, Sarah and Dan have a concurrent conversation with Steven Smith (@stevenmsmith913) and Conrad Williams (@conradw4) about Cadillacs, cookies, and #PedPC's biggest Twitter rivalry.

Where in the world is PediPal? South Africa! Sarah and Dan interview Julia Ambler (@AmblerJulia), the pediatric palliative care physician for Umduduzi Hospice Care for Children (https://umduduzi.co.za/) in Durban, KwaZulu-Natal.

How do medical marijuana and pediatric palliative care fit together? In this episode, Sarah and Dan seek some clarity about cannabis, interviewing two experts on the topic, Dr. Bonni Goldstein and Dr. Dustin Sulak. Listen to learn more about the endocannabinoid system and the impact that this much-maligned medicine has on it and on patients, often in ways we're only beginning to understand.


Resources mentioned in the episode and recommended by the guests:
Society of Cannabis Clinicians: https://www.cannabisclinicians.org
Dr. Sulak's book: https://wwnorton.com/books/9780393714180
Dr. Goldstein's book: https://www.canna-centers.com/cannabis-is-medicine/
Dr. Sulak's website with free patient education: https://www.healer.com
Dr. Sulak's physician-developed hemp products: https://healercbd.com/

PediPal International steams onward, and we now find ourselves in Tokyo, Japan. In this episode, Sarah and Dan interview Nobuyuki Yotani 余谷 暢之, Head of the Department of Palliative Medicine at the National Center for Child Health and Development.