As a physician, Kevin Nguyen, MD, has always been drawn to the sacred space created within each clinical encounter and the healing power of empathic communication. After joining TPMG in 2012, he began exploring opportunities to support colleagues to deepen their communication skills with seriously ill patients and their loved ones.
“It’s been an incredibly meaningful journey for me to help advance our broader understanding about palliative medicine and the skills that we can apply to caring for patients living with serious illness,” says Dr. Nguyen, KP East Bay chief of Palliative Medicine and Life Care Planning.
While most clinicians recognize the importance of having complex conversations with patients, few receive formal training during their medical education. “These conversations are often anxiety provoking, because you’re talking about some of the most tender and difficult topics that many families will ever face,” says John W. Morehouse, MD, FACEP, KP East Bay physician-in-chief.
Using cognitive roadmaps with defined communication skills, Dr. Nguyen helps trainees and colleagues deepen their skills and enhance the care experience for patients and their families, and guides clinicians to find more meaning in their work. He has provided countless hours of teaching and coaching to medical students, graduate medical trainees, clinical staff, and physician colleagues—both across KP and nationally—via simulated skills-based workshops, grand rounds and invited presentations, and clinical bedside teaching.
“His contributions to continuing medical education, clinical care, and patient support are unparalleled, and he stands out as a paragon of teaching excellence in every domain,” says Ted O’Connell, MD, FAAFP, director of Medical Education for KP Northern California.
Adds KP East Bay physician-in chief Rita Ng, MD, FACC: “Many of us go into medicine because we want to heal, but there’s a whole other side that’s about preserving and maintaining the dignity of the entire lifespan. Dr. Nguyen brings out the very best in our profession and teaches us that medicine is about humanity.”