Pediatric Medical Complexity: Shared Insights by B. Markovitz & A. Schrooten | OPENPediatrics‌

In this World Shared Practice Forum Podcast, co-authors Dr. Barry Markovitz and Ms. Ann Schrooten discuss their book, Shared Struggles: Stories from Parents and Pediatricians Caring for Children with Serious Illness. They share personal experiences and narratives from families and clinicians to explore the unique partnership between families and healthcare providers caring for children with serious illness and medical complexity. Lastly, they highlight the importance of communication, empathy, trust, and humility in building meaningful relationships that support children and their families throughout their care journey. LEARNING OBJECTIVES - Describe the role of parent-physician partnerships in caring for children with serious illness and medical complexity - Recognize strategies for effective communication with children who are nonverbal and the importance of incorporating parents' expertise in clinical decision-making - Discuss how empathy, compassion, and active listening contribute to trust and help build therapeutic relationships between healthcare providers and families - Examine the value of shared decision-making in delivering family-centered pediatric and palliative care AUTHORS Barry Markovitz, MD, MPH Professor of Pediatrics University of Utah Spencer Fox Eccles School of Medicine Intermountain Primary Children's Hospital Ann F. Schrooten, JD Attorney Fitzgibbons Law Offices, P.L.C Jeffrey Burns, MD, MPH Emeritus Chief Division of Critical Care Medicine Department of Anesthesiology, Critical Care and Pain Medicine Boston Children's Hospital Professor of Anesthesia Harvard Medical School DATE Initial publication date: September 22, 2026. REFERENCES - Schrooten A, Markovitz BP. Just Because I Can't Talk Doesn't Mean I Have Nothing to Say. Pediatr Crit Care Med. 2025;26(6):e860-e861. - Schrooten AF, Markovitz BP, eds. Shared Struggles: Stories from Parents and Pediatricians Caring for Children with Serious Illnesses. Copernicus Books; 2021. TRANSCRIPT https://cdn.bfldr.com/D6LGWP8S/as/8w9gnk94ctgww7bq3b3qszs7/20260917_WSP_Markovitz_and_Schrooten_transcript Please visit: www.openpediatrics.org OPENPediatrics™ is an interactive digital learning platform for healthcare clinicians sponsored by Boston Children’s Hospital and in collaboration with the World Federation of Pediatric Intensive and Critical Care Societies. It is designed to promote the exchange of knowledge between healthcare providers around the world caring for critically ill children in all resource settings. The content includes internationally recognized experts teaching the full range of topics on the care of critically ill children. All content is peer-reviewed and open-access thus at no expense to the user. For further information on how to enroll, please email: [email protected] CITATION Markovitz BP, Schrooten A, O’Hara J, Burns JP. Pediatric Medical Complexity: Shared Insights. 09/2026. OPENPediatrics. Online Podcast. https://soundcloud.com/openpediatrics/pediatric-medical-complexity-shared-insights-by-b-markovitz-and-a-schrooten-openpediatrics