Washington University School of Medicine Oral Histories
Eric Stephanson Oral History
Interviewer
Bryan Sisk MD, MSCI
Files
Download Interview Transcript [PDF] (159 KB)
Summary
Eric Stephanson was interviewed by Brian Sisk on December 13, 2019 for approximately one hour and 5 minutes for the Pediatric Palliative Care Oral History Project.
Scope and Content
Mr. Eric Stephanson begins the interview by describing his path into ministry and divinity and how that intersected over a lifetime, into a career in pediatric palliative and pediatric hospice care. Mr. Stephanson describes how spiritual guidance grew into the services offered at Canuck Place Children’s Hospice, the first free-standing North American children’s hospice, and how Mr. Stephanson took a chance opportunity to be on the first cohort of multidisciplinary professionals working to deliver palliative services to children in North America.
Mr. Stephanson then goes on to describe how his life experience as a minister helped prepare him to be “comfortable with being uncomfortable” as he approached families in crisis as their child became seriously ill. Mr. Stephanson describes his best teachers of whole human care to be the children themselves, their families, the nurses, and the social workers. He also describes the multidisciplinary model of health care at Canuck Place and how giving every team member, children and families included, a space to speak face to face and ask questions, resulted in people feeling they’ve received the utmost care and people would say “We just love coming to the hospice.”
Mr. Stephanson concludes with his desire to see that pediatric palliative care and pediatric hospice care become fully integrated. He also describes how holistic health care planning could better meet the needs of ill and suffering children by providing more freedom to switch between medical curative care and palliative care in a multidisciplinary model.
Biographical Information: Interviewee
Eric Stephanson has worked for over 40 years as an ordained congregational minister, including in a bilingual French-English congregation in northern Quebec. He also served as an ecumenical university chaplain in Alberta, and in a variety of congregations in Victoria and Vancouver, B.C., including a bilingual Chinese-English congregation. Mr. Stephanson also worked for 20 years as the Spiritual Care Leader at Canuck Place Children's Hospice in Vancouver ,where he was the first at Canuck Place to integrate spiritual services and support during events of family crisis.
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
2019-12-13
Collection Identifier
OH154-S33
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
Eric Stephanson Oral History, OH154-S33, 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).