Washington University School of Medicine Oral Histories
Stefan Friedrichsdorf Oral History
Interviewer
Bryan Sisk MD, MSCI
Files
Download Interview Transcript [PDF] (168 KB)
Summary
Stefan Friedrichsdorf was interviewed by Brian Sisk on August 21, 2019 for approximately one hour and 5 minutes for the Pediatric Palliative Care Oral History Project.
Scope and Content
Dr. Stefan Friedrichsdorf begins the interview by describing his time as medical trainee in Germany and his observations that the medical treatments physicians were giving seriously ill children were often the cause of the distressing pain symptoms children experienced. In his pursuit to find out more about managing pain in children, he found there were no existing resources—no books, no courses, no practices around him. In a chance opportunity, one of his peers was awarded funding to conduct an assessment of pediatric palliative care in Germany, and so Dr. Friedrichsdorf became the manager of that study and began his lifelong mission to eliminate medically caused pain and suffering in children.
Dr. Friedrichsdorf then describes participating in an opportunity sponsored by the Open Society led by George Soros after the fall of East Germany, to participate in several international conferences with other people interested studying pediatric palliative care. This included other like-minded individuals from the United Kingdom, Australia, Albania, the United States, and Canada. Dr. Friedrichsdorf comments on the three different types of healthcare models in the world, how current services and realities were derived from the circumstances created by these healthcare models, and several shocking and egregious situations and practices that he experienced and found to be detrimental to the health of the patient children and their families.
From the friendships he made during the beginning sessions of international pediatric palliative care conferences, Dr. Friedrichsdorf created a successful training collaborative and developed The Educational Palliative and End of life Care (EPEC) pediatrics training modules and certification resource for practitioners. With this training tool, he expects to continue to see the current and next generations of practitioners be well trained in alleviating pain and distressing symptoms in children.
Dr. Friedrichsdorf concludes the interview by listing his plans to continue to build a future where all practitioners are trained in at least primary palliative care, increase the global access to pediatric palliative and pain care free of economic restrictions, implement a re-framing of physician training to stop blindly pushing impractical intensive treatments when a palliative treatment would be more effective at reducing suffering and burden on children, and for the establishment of sustainable interdisciplinary palliative care teams in every children’s hospital.
Biographical Information: Interviewee
Stefan Friedrichsdorf is a professor of pediatrics and the medical director of the Center of Pediatric Pain Medicine, Palliative Care and Integrative Medicine program at the Benioff Children’s Hospitals, University of California at San Francisco School of Medicine (UCSF). Dr. Friedrichsdorf has received numerous awards for his work including the 2016 Elizabeth Narcessian Award for Outstanding Educational Achievements in the Field of Pain by the American Pain Society and the 2011 Hastings Center Cunniff-Dixon Physician Award. He is the principal investigator of a National Institutes of Health (NIH) / National Cancer Institute (NCI) multisite study on the creation, implementation and evaluation of the Pediatric Palliative Care Curriculum “Education in Palliative and End-of-Life Care (EPEC)-Pediatrics”, which so far trained 990 clinicians from 66 countries.
Dr. Friedrichsdorf enjoys teaching and in 2008 founded and continues to direct the Annual Pediatric Pain Master Class which is a unique week-long intensive course for interdisciplinary health professionals seeking to achieve a deeper more comprehensive understanding of pain. Dr. Friedrichsdorf has also presented over 750 lectures in 30 countries on topics ranging from pediatric pain medicine, palliative care, and integrative medicine. He has authored and coauthored over 60 peer-reviewed articles and 25 books and book chapters. Dr. Friedrichsdorf is also the current president-elect of the Special Interest Group on Pain in Childhood of the International Association for the Study of Pain (IASP).
Biographical Information: Interviewer
Bryan Sisk, MD, MSCI is an Assistant Professor in Pediatric Hematology and Oncology and an Assistant Professor in General Medical Sciences as a member of the Bioethics Research Center at Washington University in St. Louis. He completed medical school at the Cleveland Clinic Lerner College of Medicine at Case Western Reserve University. He completed his clinical training at St. Louis Children’s Hospital and Washington University School of Medicine.
Dr. Sisk was a clinical fellow in pediatric hematology and oncology when he initiated this Pediatric Palliative Care Oral History Project. As a trainee, Dr. Sisk had a strong interest in palliative care, the approach to the suffering of children, and the history of medicine. Prior to initiating this project, Dr. Sisk performed an in-depth review of the development of pediatric palliative care as a discipline and philosophy. This research culminated in a publication entitled, “Response to Suffering of the Seriously Ill Child: A History of Palliative Care for Children” in the journal Pediatrics. However, this historical review was limited to textbooks and publications. It lacked the personal experience of caring for these children and inspiring the development of a new clinical discipline. Inspired by David Clark’s oral history of the adult hospice movement, Dr. Sisk began to plan this pediatric oral history project.
Of note, this collection of oral histories is incomplete, and many important figures have not (yet) been interviewed. Dr. Sisk’s goal is to continue adding to this collection create a rich repository of personal insights and wisdom from leaders who changed the field of pediatrics.
Interview Date
2019-07-21
Collection Identifier
OH154-S14
Length
Approximately one hour and 5 minutes.
Restrictions
Users wishing to publish (in whole, or in part) content taken from the audio or transcript of this oral history interview must request, sign, and return a Statement of Use form to the Becker Archives. For detailed information regarding publication and use of this oral history, contact the Becker Archives (arb@wusm.wustl.edu).
Recommended Citation
Stefan Friedrichsdorf Oral History, OH154-S14, Bernard Becker Medical Library Archives, Washington University in St. Louis.
Disclaimer
The Becker Archives provides access to this oral history interview as a record of the past. This interview reflects the attitudes, perspectives, and beliefs of the interview participants, which may reflect outdated, biased, and offensive views and opinions. The Becker Archives does not endorse the views expressed in this interview, which may contain materials offensive to some users.
Notes
Access to the audio recording for this oral history may be obtained via approval of the archivists at Becker Library. Contact the archives for more information (arb@wusm.wustl.edu).