Coronavirus Update:What patients and families need to know
The Children's National Research Institute
Research Profile
Tessie October, M.D., M.P.H.
- Parent-physician communication
- M.P.H., General Public Health, Columbia University Mailman School of Public Health, New York, NY, (2007-2009)
- M.D., Doctorate of Medicine, University of Washington School of Medicine, Seattle, WA, (1997-2001)
- Fellowship, Pediatric Critical Care Medicine, New York Presbyterian Hospital at Columbia University, New York, NY, (2004-2007)
- Fellowship, Pediatrics, Children's National Medical Center, Washington, DC, (2001-2004)
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Associate Professor of Pediatrics, George Washington University School of Medicine and Health Sciences
Tessie October, M.D., M.P.H., is a board-certified physician in pediatrics, pediatric critical care and palliative and hospice medicine. She blends the expertise from these three areas into her academic interests as a clinical scientist, focusing on centering the patient and family during critical decision-making. As an NIH-funded investigator, Dr. October explores interventions that teach the healthcare team high-quality communication skills necessary to support family decision-making. She also develops interventions to activate families to ensure they have an equal seat at the decision-making table. As an educator, Dr. October uses her expertise to train the next generation of physicians and faculty to provide empathetic, family-centered care. Her academic mission is to transform the process of family-healthcare team communication to improve outcomes for patients, families and staff.
In her personal life, Dr. October is a mother of three children and enjoys writing about work-life balance as well as traveling, getting lost in a novel and completing crossword puzzles.