Events > Web Seminars > 2018 Spring: Integrating Nutrition and Wellness Instruction: Practical Applications for Health Science Educators

Peer Support – Mitigating the Emotional Toll of Medical Errors

Presented by Jo Shapiro, MD, FACS on April 5, 2018 at 12:00 pm

Dr. Shapiro’s talk will address the unique role that frontline physicians can play in supporting one another, particularly following an adverse event. She will discuss the impact that adverse events have on clinicians, describe the peer support program developed at the Brigham and Women’s Hospital, and discuss how the initiatives developed by the BWH Center for Professionalism and Peer Support work to foster a culture of trust, mutual respect and teamwork throughout the institution.

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Presenter Bios

Jo Shapiro, MD, FACS, Dr. Shapiro is the director of the Center for Professionalism and Peer Support and a surgeon in the Department of Surgery at the Brigham and Women’s Hospital (BWH) in Boston and an Associate Professor of Otolaryngology at Harvard Medical School.

Dr. Shapiro launched the BWH Center for Professionalism and Peer Support in 2008. Since that time the Center has supported and collaborated with multiple institutions, nationally and internationally to enhance clinician wellness by supporting teamwork and respect and mitigating clinician burnout. She serves on the Ethics and Professionalism Committee of the American Board of Medical Specialties and was invited to serve as Committee Chairperson.

As a clinician leader Dr. Shapiro served as Chief of the Division of Otolaryngology at BWH from 1999 through March of 2016; she continues to maintain a surgical practice in the Division, specializing in oropharyngeal swallowing disorders.

Dr. Shapiro is committed to global health medical education and training. She was appointed Honorary Professor of Professional Behavior and Peer Support in Medicine through the academic track at Groningen University Medical Center in The Netherlands. She serves as Visiting Professor and Otolaryngology Residency Program Advisor for Mbarara University of Science and Technology in Uganda. She was also a member of the Israeli Commission for Higher Education International Committee for the Evaluation of Medical Schools in Israel.

Dr. Shapiro received her B.A. from Cornell University and her M.D. from George Washington University Medical School. Her general surgery training was at University of California, San Diego and then UCLA. She did her otolaryngology training at Harvard followed by a year of a National Institute of Health Training Grant Fellowship in swallowing physiology. She has been a faculty member in the Department of Surgery at BWH since 1987. She is married to an internist, and they have three children.