AAHPM reached out to the 2024 Visionaries to gain insight into what motivated them to pursue leadership positions and what they find more fulfilling in their experiences. Vicki Jackson, MD MPH FAAHPM has been recognized as one of the exceptional individuals chosen as a 2024 AAHPM Visionaries in Hospice and Palliative Care.
Who has most influenced your work and how have they shaped your contributions?
I have been influenced by so many colleagues over the years. Susan Block, Andy Billings, and Diane Meier were very important to me early in my career and taught me how to be an advocate for the vulnerable patients we care for. Christine Ritchie has been an important influence in how to be a leader. She conducts herself with the highest degree of integrity and generosity that I try my best to emulate.
What is the significance to you of being recognized as a “Visionary” in Hospice and Palliative Medicine?
It is truly an honor to be recognized by my peers in this way. Any contributions I have been able to make to the field are because of having had the good fortune of having outstanding collaborators who are not afraid to ask the hard questions or do the hard thing in order find a way to improve care for seriously ill patients and their families.
What is your aspiration for the evolution of hospice and Palliative Medicine?
My hope is that hospice and palliative medicine will become so deeply integrated into the fabric of healthcare that future generations of clinicians couldn’t imagine being able to care for seriously ill patients without it.
Learn more about the AAHPM 2024 Visionaries in Hospice and Palliative Care and view a full list of all current and past Visionaries.