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Understanding Full-Service Supportive and Palliative Care Medicine with Dr. Justin Yu and Dr. Scott Maurer

Released: 1/24/2023

In this episode of That’s Pediatrics, our hosts talk with Justin Yu, MD, MS, and Scott Maurer, MD, both pediatric palliative care medicine and supportive care physicians at UPMC Children’s Hospital of Pittsburgh.

In this episode our experts discuss:

  • Dr. Yu and Dr. Maurer’s background and path to palliative and supportive care (3:52)
  • What UPMC Children’s “full-service” palliative care program includes (7:18)
  • The bereavement component of the supportive care program (9:10)
  • The program’s increased focus on care and support outside of the hospital (11:52)
  • The paradigm shift in the way care is provided at Children’s (14:20)
  • How supportive care serves as a “glue” for patients and families (16:16)
  • Dr. Yu’s research focuses on children with medical complexity and describing how caring for a child with medical complexity affects a caregiver’s mental health (18:20)
  • The growth of the pediatric palliative and supportive care and complex care fields recently (20:09)
  • The importance of philanthropy in funding these supportive services and research that affects children all around the world (21:48)
  • Expanding supportive and palliative care services into other regions and UPMC locations (23:52)
  • The need for increased research funding in these areas and more training opportunities for pediatric palliative care physicians (28:37)
  • The most important value in a pediatric palliative care clinician (31:28)

Meet Our Guests

Justin A. Yu, MD, MSJustin A. Yu, MD, MS, is a board-certified physician-researcher in Pediatrics, Internal-Medicine, and Hospice and Palliative Care Medicine. He works with the Supportive Care team at UPMC Children’s Hospital of Pittsburgh and is an assistant professor of pediatrics at the University of Pittsburgh School of Medicine. Dr. Yu’s research focuses on improving the health and well-being of children with medical complexity and their family caregivers through pediatric palliative care interventions. He is currently conducting several observational studies which examine the association between caregivers’ experiences of their child’s care coordination and caregiver’s health-related quality of life, national trends in self-reported mental and physical health among caregivers, and levels of emotional distress among caregivers. From the work of his observational studies, he plans to develop, refine, and trial a behavioral intervention aimed at improving caregiver emotional well-being by improving their coping.

Scott Maurer, MDScott Maurer, MD, is a pediatric palliative care physician and a pediatric oncologist. Dr. Maurer is board-certified in pediatrics, pediatric hematology/oncology, and hospice and palliative. He is the chief of the division of palliative medicine and supportive care at UPMC Children’s Hospital of Pittsburgh and is an associate professor of pediatrics at the University of Pittsburgh School of Medicine. His clinical interests include symptom management and decision-making support for children with serious illness. He has published and presented on topics including pain and symptom management, development of patient reported outcome tools for children with cancer, resilience training for children with cancer, social media use in children with serious illness, the role of spirituality in the care of children, and improving doctor-patient communication. Find him on twitter at @ScottMaurerMD.

Meet Our Hosts

Allison WilliamsAllison “Alli” Williams, MD, is a pediatric hospitalist and is certified by the American Board of Pediatrics. She is a member of the Paul C. Gaffney Division of Pediatric Hospitalist Medicine, medical-surgical co-management team director, and assistant professor at the University of Pittsburgh School of Medicine. Dr. Williams received her medical degree from Herbert Wertheim College of Medicine at Florida International University in Miami, Florida, and completed her residency at UPMC Children’s Hospital of Pittsburgh. Her clinical interests include non-RSV bronchiolitis, febrile neonates, and the enhanced of patient care through medical-surgical co-management.

Sameer AgnihotriSameer Agnihotri, PhD, is director of the Brain Tumor Biology and Therapy Lab and an assistant professor at the University of Pittsburgh School of Medicine. Dr. Agnihotri earned his bachelor’s degree in biology, specializing in genetics, followed by his doctorate degree in medical biophysics, both at the University of Toronto. While there, he used genetic screens to identify novel drivers of glioblastoma, an incurable brain tumor. He subsequently completed his post-doctoral fellowship at the Arthur and Sonia Labatt Brain Tumor Research Centre at the Hospital for Sick Children, in Toronto, and the Princess Margaret Cancer Centre, Division of Neuro-oncology Research, also in Toronto. Dr. Agnihotri’s lab studies pediatric and adult high-grade gliomas.

Disclaimer

This podcast is for informational and educational purposes only. It is not medical care or advice. Clinicians should rely on their own medical judgements when advising their patients. Patients in need of medical care should consult their personal care provider.