Dr. White received his MD from UCSF in 1999, where he also completed his training in internal medicine and in pulmonary and critical care medicine. He joined the division of pulmonary and critical care medicine in 2005. His primary clinical interest is caring for critically ill patients. Research Interests Dr. White's research focus is risk communication and decision-making in patients at high risk of death in intensive care units. In the intensive care unit, most patients are unable to participate in decisions about their medical care, therefore, family members serve as surrogate decision-makers. Prior research has documented that a high proportion of surrogate decision-makers do not understand the prognosis of the patient for whom they are making decisions, particularly those at high risk for death. The reasons for these misunderstandings about prognosis have not been clearly delineated.
The long-range goal of Dr. White's research program is to improve clinical decision-making for patients through the development and testing of evidence-based interventions. The objective of his current research is to identify factors that are associated with poor understanding of prognosis by surrogate decision-makers of ICU patients, to determine ways to improve communication of prognosis between physicians and surrogates, and to develop a reliable and valid measure of the quality of communication about prognosis. He is studying a cohort of ICU patients at high risk of death using audiotaped physician-family discussions, physician and family member questionnaires, and chart review.
