A New Best Case/Worst Case Course A framework to improve surgeon communication in high stakes surgical decisions COURSE DETAILS This online course prepares surgeons to navigate conversations that involve choosing between surgery and other treatment options. The curriculum is specifically tailored to help clinicians articulate the best, worst and most likely outcomes of interventions to […]

Delivering Difficult Patient Conversations Is a Skill to be Learned, Practiced     Sometimes, physicians must let patients and their families know about a severe illness or injury, a cancer diagnosis, a poor prognosis, the occurrence of unwanted and significant side effects, the ineligibility for a clinical trial or transplant, sudden and unexpected death; other […]

Behind the knife Podcast: 7 Habits for Highly Effective Surgery Communication with Dr. Gretchen Schwarze On this episode we are joined by Dr. Gretchen Schwarze, Associate Professor of Vascular Surgery at the University of Wisconsin in Madison.  Dr. Schwarze is an expert in surgical decision making, informed consent, advance directives, and end-of-life care, and in […]

Behind the Knife Podcast: Best Case Worst Case Tool: Scenario Planning with Dr. Gretchen Schwarze On this episode we talk about an extremely important topic – end of life care and decision making.  We are lucky to be joined by Dr. Gretchen Schwarze, Associate Professor of Vascular Surgery at the University of Wisconsin in Madison.  […]

ArmChair expert Podcast: Atul Gawande   Dr. Atul Gawande discussed the Best Case/Worst Case framework with Dax Shepard on the Armchair Expert Podcast. Listen to the segment where they discuss BC/WC below or check out the full podcast episode at this link.    

 Surgical PALLIATIVE Care Podcast episode 13: Dr. Gretchen Schwarze: Surgical Buy-In and Best Case/Worst Case   Join host Dr. Red Hoffman as she interviews Dr. Gretchen Schwarze, a vascular surgeon, medical ethicist and prolific researcher known for her work focused on surgical buy-in and the best case/worst case scenario.  Gretchen is an endowed professor in […]

WORT FM Interview: When Healthcare Is A Waiting Game: Routine Medical Procedures During COVID-19   Dr. Schwarze discussed the effects of COVID-19 on non-coronavirus patients with WORT news public affairs director Chali Pittman. Listen to the discussion using the player below or on the WORT FM Website.    WORT 89.9FM Madison · When Healthcare is a […]

ProPublica: The Family Wanted a Do Not Resuscitate Order. The Doctors Didn’t. Dr. Schwarze was interviewed by Caroline Chen for this ProPublica article. You can read the full article here. From the article: The surgeons “expressed significant emotional reaction,” including “betrayal, unhappiness, disappointment,” Schwarze reported. They felt that there was an implicit contract that patients […]

New York Times: Frail Older Patients Struggle After Even Minor Operations   Dr. Schwarze was featured in this New York Times article about the post-operative care of frail older patients. In the article, she discusses The Patient Preferences Project’s Question Prompt List Intervention that can help patients ask meaningful questions when deciding if surgery is right […]

GeriPal Podcast: Advance Care Planning before Major Surgery Dr. Schwarze was a guest on the GeriPal Podcast to discuss advance care planning before major surgery. Check out the episode using the player below or on the GeriPal Website! GeriPal – A Geriatrics and Palliative Care Podcast · Advance Care Planning before Major Surgery: A Podcast […]

New York Times: The Elderly Are Getting Complex Surgeries. Often It Doesn’t End Well. Dr. Schwarze was interviewed for this article in the New York Times about how surgery in older adults can lead to poor outcomes that may not be anticipated by patients and their family members. The problem, said Dr. Schwarze, was that […]

GeriPal Podcast: Uncertainty, Scenario Planning, and American Pie   Hear Dr. Schwarze discuss scenario planning and her New England Journal of Medicine paper titled “Managing Uncertainty: Harnessing the power of scenario-planning” on the GeriPal Podcast. You can listen to the episode using the player below or by visiting the GeriPal website. The idea behind scenario-planning, […]

New York Times: A Surgery Standard Under Fire   Dr. Schwarze was interviewed in this New York Times story about how the use of a 30-day mortality window in surgical report cards can lead to unacknowledged harm for patients.