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Grand Rounds – Heidi Gessner, MDiv, BCC
August 15, 2018 @ 8:00 am - 9:00 am
Please join us Wednesday at 8am, Patient Family Resource Center Conference Room (Ground Floor, North Carolina Cancer Hospital)
Hosted by the UNC Comprehensive Cancer Support Program (CCSP) and the UNC Palliative Care Program
Bio: Heidi Gessner, MDiv, BCC, is an Ordained United Church of Christ Minister who serves as the Palliative Care Chaplain and Bereavement Coordinator for UNC Hospitals. She developed and created UNC Hospital Bereavement Support Services with goal of attending to the emotional pain and transformation that is the result of illness and loss.
Heidi provides emotional and spiritual support, as well as grief counseling, to patients, families, and staff in the hospital. She co-facilitates a weekly writing group, Writing for Resilience, for patients, caregivers and survivors. This group reflects through writing to prompts and shares their pieces to connect with others.
In addition to connecting with patients, families and staff in the hospital, Heidi facilitates grief support groups and writing workshops in the community for caregivers and individuals living with uncertainty due to illness. Heidi is also an active member of the UNC Hospitals Critical Incident Stress Management (CISM) Team, which responds to unexpected, traumatic events in the hospital and provides emotional support.
Heidi is a faculty member in the UNC Medical School, where she co-teaches a course on Advanced Communication Skills, Ethics, and Reflection to third-year medical school students. This course gives students space to reflect on their own lives and their interactions with patients and hospital staff. By connecting with their own stories, they learn how to intentionally and better engage with patients and families.
We offer: Accreditation
The School of Medicine of the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill is accredited by the Accreditation Council for Continuing Medical Education (ACCME) to provide continuing medical education for physicians.
Continuing Medical Education Statement: The School of Medicine of the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill designates this live activity for a maximum of 8.0 AMA PRA Category 1 Credit(s)™. Physicians should claim only the credit commensurate with the extent of their participation in the activity.
Other health professionals will receive a certificate of attendance from an AMA PRA Category 1™ activity. These certificates are accepted by the NC Boards for physician assistants, nurse practitioners, nurses, and respiratory therapists. Other health care providers may also be able to use these certificates, depending on their particular license requirements. (License requirements are subject to change. Participants should check with their licensing boards for specific questions. UNC and its partners are not responsible for changes in license requirements.)