Trowbridge Lab

Dr. Trowbridge's research focuses on understanding and improving relationship-centered communication between clinicians, patients and caregivers.

Investigator Biography

Amy Christine Trowbridge, MD

Amy Trowbridge, MD, is an associate professor of pediatrics and an attending physician on the Palliative Care team. She is the co-director of the University of Washington’s Palliative Care Training Center; the director of pediatric education for the Cambia Palliative Care Center of Education; and the director of education for the Division of Bioethics and Palliative Care. She earned her MD from Weill Cornell Medical College, completed her pediatrics residency at University of Washington/Seattle Children’s Hospital and completed her hospice and palliative medicine fellowship at the Children’s Hospital of Philadelphia. In her spare time, Amy likes to zip around Seattle on her e-bike and watch her two kids (Harrison and June) grow. 

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Current Research/Scholarship Projects

Understanding Care Conference Communication for Seriously Ill Patients and Families

The goal of this project is to better understand the content and structure of communication in care conferences for children with serious illness, and to compare communication for families whose preferred language is English and those who prefer a language other than English.

University of Washington's Graduate Certificate in Palliative Care

Dr. Trowbridge is a co-director of this nine-month (three-academic quarter) program that equips interprofessional clinicians with the skills and resources needed to provide patient and family-centered, equitable serious illness care to adults and children. Graduates of this program become palliative care champions: providing both subspecialty and primary palliative care, educating others in palliative care and participating in palliative care-related research. Learn more about the UW Graduate Certificate in Palliative Care.

PedsTalk

Dr. Trowbridge is the director of the UW Pediatrics PedsTalk program. PedsTalk is the UW Department of Pediatrics' communication training program, built in partnership with VitalTalk. The PedsTalk team is developing and evaluating novel training programs to equips clinicians to facilitate honest, empathic conversations, especially in the setting of serious illness.

Highlighted Publications

1. Trowbridge A, Wightman A, Kett J. Promise me she'll survive: Navigating emotion and uncertainty in paediatric chronic disease with low-mortality rates. Acta Paediatr. 2022 Mar;111(3):464-466. doi: 10.1111/apa.16179. Epub 2021 Dec 3. PMID: 34751969.
2. Bogetz JF, Trowbridge A, Lewis H, Jonas D, Hauer J, Rosenberg AR. Forming Clinician-Parent Therapeutic Alliance for Children with Severe Neurologic Impairment. Hosp Pediatr.
3. Trowbridge A, Bamat T, Griffis H, McConathey E, Feudtner C, Walter J.  Pediatric Resident Experience Caring for Children at the End of Life in a Children’s Hospital. Acad Pediatr. Jan-Feb 2020;20(1):81-88. doi: 10.1016/j.acap.2019.07.008; PMID: 31376579
4. Trowbridge A, Walter JK, McConathey E, Morrison W, Feudtner C. Modes of Death Within a Children’s Hospital. Pediatrics. 2018;142(4):11. doi: 10.1542/peds.2017-4182; PMID: 30232217
5. Bogetz JF, Lewis H, Trowbridge A, Jonas D, Hauer J, Wilfond BS. From Monochromatic to Technicolor: Parent Perspectives on Challenges and Approaches to Seeing Children with Severe Neurological Impairment Holistically. J Palliat Med. 2021 Sep 22. doi: 10.1089/jpm.2021.0344. PMID: 34551279.