AAHPM reached out to the 2024 Emerging Leaders to gain insight into what motivated them to pursue leadership positions and what they find more fulfilling in their experiences. Carly Zapata, MD MPH has been recognized as one of the exceptional individuals chosen as a 2024 AAHPM Emerging Leader in Hospice and Palliative Care.
Who has most influenced your work and how have they shaped your contributions?
I have been fortunate to be mentored and sponsored by many people during my medical training and career to date, both in my path to medicine as a field and specifically in palliative care. In my current clinical and educational leadership roles, my colleagues and mentors at UCSF have been an unwavering source of support, encouragement and exceptional role modeling of what it means to be an exceptional HPM physician and help me develop the confidence to take on leadership roles. Specifically, Steve Pantilat, my division chief, and Kara Bischoff and Michael Rabow, who lead our outpatient clinics in which I work, have been outstanding mentors and role models.
What is the significance to you of being recognized as a “Emerging Leader” in Hospice and Palliative Medicine?
This recognition is most significant to me because it represents the recognition of the important work that educational leaders in palliative medicine are engaged in across the US. By creating environments where some of our best clinicians can gain the skills and encouragement to provide excellent palliative medicine to patients and to build on their skills as leaders, researchers, and educators themselves we are amplifying our own impact and making meaningful contributions to our communities.
What is your aspiration for the evolution of hospice and Palliative Medicine?
I have many aspirations for the field in the years to come, but I specifically hope that the work we do and services we offer in hospice and palliative medicine are equitably distributed and routinely made available to those who need it. We should be able to provide cultural humble, high-quality services to patient of all backgrounds, across all settings, including for our patients with limited English proficiency, given the importance of specific words we use in serious illness communication. Additionally, I hope the field of HPM can continue to promote cultural and policy change over time to help us acknowledge and support the essential work of caregiving for those with serious illness.
Learn more about the AAHPM 2024 Emerging Leaders in Hospice and Palliative Care and view a full list of all current and past Emerging Leaders.