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. Laura Morrison, MD FAAHPM FACP 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?
Palliative care patients and their families, and the desire to create the best possible care for them in our health care system, have been the driving influences in my work. They have pushed me forward to see our field broadly through an advocacy lens and to focus my efforts most often toward improving the strength and training of our workforce. My work has really been shaped by a village, with AAHPM at the center as my professional home and AAHPM LEAD as a core connection and leadership experience. Thus, I have been fortunate to be mentored by many senior hospice and palliative care leaders and peers in our community and across disciplines for over 20+ years. Key examples have been impactful. Susan Block, MD mentored me into leadership of the HPM Competencies workgroup and on to related opportunities. Shirley Otis Green, MSW, MA, Pam Fordham, PhD, FNP, and Elise Carey, MD were partners in creating the annual Interactive Educational Exchange, a session that aimed to bolster the work of the interprofessional educator community at the AAHPM/HPNA Annual Assembly over 10 years. I have also had serial opportunities to lead and contribute through AAHPM workgroups and as a national representative for AAHPM for new guidelines and innovative resources for different HPM learners. More recently, these experiences have led to my service on the AAHPM board and broader advocacy. In summary, I am so grateful for my village and wish to be part of the village for other colleagues.
What is the significance to you of being recognized as a “Visionary” in Hospice and Palliative Medicine?
I am truly honored with this recognition, and it reignites my motivation to keep contributing to our field’s path forward. For me, it is an indicator of impact. To be included with other “Visionary” colleagues who have made major contributions and influenced the field, is very gratifying. Our work is a team effort even at the highest level and we need all hands-on deck to move hospice and palliative care forward for the best future. I think we all hope our expertise, effort, and execution can create change and bend a path in a positive direction. I hope my longitudinal commitment to the field, and more specifically, to continuing to develop our HPM educational infrastructure and needed resources forward with similarly colleagues, will continue to positive change and a more prepared HPM workforce over time.
What is your aspiration for the evolution of hospice and Palliative Medicine?
I hope to see HPM move forward as a field united around advocacy to keep hospice and palliative care practice robust, valued, and meaningful in all spheres. We will continue to put patients and families first, aiming to achieve high quality palliative care access for all who need it. We will need to be proactive in being prepared to address evolving current trends and new trends in health care, including much needed payment and regulatory reforms. I also want to see our evidence base leap forward with HPM specific research funding, our ongoing efforts around DEI and wellness create a more representative and nurtured workforce, and our training programs eventually have accessible and meaningful tools for trainee assessment and faculty development to produce a more nimble, prepared workforce.
Learn more about the AAHPM 2024 Visionaries in Hospice and Palliative Care and view a full list of all current and past Visionaries.