The Integrative Palliative Podcast

Physicians and other healthcare clinicians get freaked out when they have to talk to a patient about hospice. If your general approach is "well... nothing seems to be helping so I guess it's time for hospice," this episode is for you! You'll learn the 7 things to say to make a discussion about hospice feel more supportive and less heavy. Please share this episode with your netw...

I'm not a big fan of resolutions.  Success, contentment and "happiness" aren't really about one big annual push, they are about repeated practice of concepts that are small but mighty! This week we'll chat about a 3-step path to living a contented life. If you practice this plan, you will change. I promise. And you don't even have to give up sugar! Reach out anytime D...

You will love Dr Mary Leung. She is a medical oncologist and hematologist who has a busy outpatient clinical practice. After too many nights getting home after 7:00pm with more charts to do at home, she got burned out and stopped loving her job. Join us to learn what she did to change her work life dramatically. She now loves her work again and leaves the office, charts completed, by 5:30pm so she...

Maybe you mostly talk to your mom on the phone and you haven't seen your aging parents in almost a year. Or maybe your dad just ended up in the hospital and you realize that mom might not be safe to stay at home alone. If this hasn't happened to you, it has almost certainly happened to some of your patients.  People tend to feel totally overwhelmed and unsure how to proceed. This week&ap...

This basic introduction to practical aromatherapy will give you one more safe and easy to use tool to help your patients manage stress and anxiety. You'll learn the down and dirty way to counsel your patients about WHAT aromatherapy is, WHY you should add it to your tool box and HOW exactly it can be incorporated into a stress management routine. Reach out anytime! Dr. Chiaramonte www.integra...

Life is BUSY! There is so much to do and I know you wish that you had just a few more hours in every day.  The surprising truth is that you may be inadvertently making your time issues worse than they need to be. In this week's episode of the integrative palliative podcast, we'll discuss three of those ways - I know you'll see yourself in at least one of them.  We can only fix what...

Can you be empathetic and also have badass boundaries? Yes! Loose boundaries lead to overwhelm and burnout and they drain the empathy right out of you. This week I will give you the 3 steps that you need to gain control of your schedule so you can keep your cup full. Reach out any time!   - Dr Chiaramonte P.S. Would you do me a favor? Please go to Apple podcasts and leave a review. It helps me rea...

If you have a loved one with dementia you must listen to this episode! Neuropsychologist Karen Sullivan, PhD is an expert in helping families navigate the complicated and challenging experience of having someone you love face dementia. You'll be struck by her deep compassion, hopefulness and highly practical tips for thriving as a family. Dr. Sullivan also provides tons of free education on t...

Life can be hard. When our "cup" is empty hard things are harder. And when our "cup" is full, life is simply easier. This week you'll learn a simple but powerful technique for figuring out how to fill your unique "cup," and once you practice it for yourself you will have a powerful tool to use with your patients.  This technique is especially valuable for patient...

Have you ever hurt your back with just a small twist or after lifting up a light object? It can feel impossible to be injured from such an insignificant event. Dr. Mary Jo Fishburn is a physical medicine and rehabilitation physician with expertise in the integrative approach to musculoskeletal wellbeing. She will explain what predisposes us to injury and pain and what we can do about it. She can b...

The Patient Dignity Question (PDQ) is the best question that you will ever ask your patient. It will supercharge your doctor-patient connection and give you key information that you might otherwise have missed. Listen and try it out in your practice. If you have a colleague who would benefit from learning about the PDQ, please forward the episode to them. Reach out anytime! Dr. Chiaramonte Coping...

We all know that there is a tension between being the empathetic physician that you want to be and getting your charts done so you don't stay at the office until 9pm. We also know that patients hate it when their doctor never looks up from the computer.  Is there anything we can do? We can't get rid of RVUs or fix the whole healthcare system (at least not today), but there are a few very...

Buprenorphine gets a bad rap. Many physicians aren't clear on how to use it and we tend to shy away from things we don't understand. But what if a patient comes onto your service who is taking buprenorphine? We really shouldn't turn our collective heads away from this potentially very useful medication. Instead, we should learn more and increase our comfort so we can best care for a...

Physicians are suffering. Dr. Londono is one of the few LatinX female urologists, and she gets it. She became physically ill due to burnout. Twice! Not only did she find ways to lift herself up, she founded an organization to help other physicians who are suffering. Dr. Londono started Physician Coach Support, a free web-based support service for physicians. Check it out at www.physiciancoachsuppo...

Giving bad news well takes skill.  Many physicians do an OK job at giving bad news but I encourage you to shoot much higher than just OK. Patients and families may remember that moment for the rest of their lives, and a physician who skillfully gives bad news can help relieve suffering for the patient and family. In today's episode of The Integrative Palliative Podcast you will learn 10 tips...

This week I'm sharing an interview that I did on Dr. Tolulope Olabintan's show. We chatted about how to approach the hard stuff - when a loved one has a serious illness. Our conversation ranged from how to hav enough conversations to the biggest mistakes that loved ones make to how to find happiness even when facing a serious illness. Come listen! Dr. Chiaramonte www.integrativepalliativ...

Excellence in integrative symptom management is worth pursuing - for your patients and for yourself. It is a style of practice that is impactful and deeply meaningful. The 4 kept components are: 1) The mind-body-meaning-relationship approach 2) Seeking the symptom's underlying cause 3) Creating a bigger toolbox 4) Committing to keeping your own "cup" full. If you'd like to lear...

You may think that you can't add an integrative approach to your practice because your patients visits are too short.  This is a myth. While it would be great to have hour long visits with each patient, the integrative approach can be snuck in to any patient care visit, no matter how short. This week you'll learn 10 tips for creating an integrative symptom management practice in the real...

Fibromyalgia is a challenging condition for both the patient and the physician. There is no quick fix and no magic medication that will fix fibromyalgia pain. With an integrative, multidimensional approach, however, people with fibromyalgia can absolutely feel better! Dr. Ziegenbein is a rheumatologist and expert in fibromyalgia. She shares her approach for helping patients with fibromyalgia reduc...

Other people's strong emotions can be scary.   If you're in the exam room and your patient is crying what should you do? Should you prescribe an SSRI? Sometimes, but do you know for sure when crying is depression and when it's not? If you prescribe an antidepressant, what else should you do? What if the patient is not depressed, but is struggling with sadness. Do you know just what...

These have been hard times for all of us - patients, physicians, NPs, PAs, office staff - everyone.  After more than 2 years of a pandemic everyone is stressed and tired. Physicians may feel stretched to the limit and patients may feel that they have to fight to get the care they deserve. The doctor-patient relationship is struggling. What can you do? Today you'll learn 5 steps to improve a c...

You must listen to this episode with special guest Dr. Weili Gray. Dr. Gray is a sleep physician and certified life planner who helps physicians create the life of their dreams through her practice daretodreamphysician.com . But for this episode she shared her recent and raw experience supporting her dad at the end of his life.  She shares deep insights and wisdom from her experience that will mov...

This week on The Integrative Palliative Podcast you'll learn 6 wisdoms that came directly from people near the end of their life. They share things that they want us to know so that we can best support them as they face their illness. Some of these came from my own patients, and some came from the loved ones of physicians who received 1:1 mentoring with me to learn how best to support their l...

This week we have a special guest, Dr. Janice Brown. Dr. Brown is an integrative physical medicine and rehabilitation physician and she is also a life coach. She started out as a massage therapist, then went to medical school where she chose PM&R because she loved the whole person approach.  She is an acupuncurist, is certified in functional medicine and uses her life coaching skills both with...

People with cancer face significant side effects - both from their cancer and their chemotherapy, immunotherapy or radiation treatments. They often seek out complementary or integrative approaches alongside their conventional medical treatments, but they may have to figure out what to use without any medical guidance. The ideal scenario would be for the integrative approach to be folded into the o...