Powerful Speaker on Health Transformation, Medical Culture, and Humanity
San Francisco
Transforming Pain into Activism
Emily F. Peters shares how her own near-death experience turned her into an activist for a better healthcare system
Speaking Topics
Art and Medicine
Can you imagine a better healthcare future? Far too many of us working in medicine today are burned out, left feeling hopeless and uninspired. In this talk, Emily F. Peters explores how the creative process and art bring new possibilities to healthcare from a shared 100,000-year history together. Hear about musicians, writers, photographers, architects, designers, and painters who are creating lasting change in medicine around the world. Analyze historical connections between the elements of art including music, pigments, storytelling, and color, and the current practice of medicine in a complex world. Learn why it’s okay that optimism is functionally more work than pessimism and how to develop your own practice of imagination.
Beyond Care and Expertise: Why We Need More Healthcare Leaders and How to Create Them
Problems abound in our current U.S. healthcare systems, including overwhelming costs, falling outcomes, continued inequity, and professional burnout. We need bold leadership to solve these, especially from the clinicians with knowledge of working on the front lines of care. Yet most medical education doesn’t teach future physicians and nurses how to lead. In this talk, explore varied paths to leadership among medical professionals — showing there are so many ways to make a difference. Learn about diverse authors, advocates, astronauts, and founders who use their own unique perspectives to lead healthcare transformation. This session can be tailored for medical students, women’s healthcare leadership groups, and mid-career professionals.
Moderating
As a former journalist and multi-decade expert on healthcare transformation, Emily F. Peters is a dynamic panel moderator. She has led energetic conversations with a wide range of speakers from the CEO of Blue Shield of California to bestselling author Claire Saffitz.
Speaking Appearances
Columbia University, “Medicine and the Art of Ethics Colloquium” (2024)
California College of the Arts, Graduate Interaction Design - “Healthcare Systems” (2024)
DePaul University School of Nursing - “Art, Creativity, and Nurse Leadership” (2024)
National Kidney Foundation at the JP Morgan Healthcare Conference - “Healthcare Writer’s Workshop” (2024)
Creative Mornings San Francisco - “Transforming Pain into Activism” (2023)
Together We Heal National Roundtable - “Transforming a Traumatized Healthcare System” (2023)
HIT Like a Girl - “VIP San Francisco Book Salon” (2023)
Commonwealth Club, “Claire Saffitz, Dessert Person,” Moderator (2020)
HLTH, “Book Nook,” Featured author (2019)
HLTH, “Power Press Party,” Presenter (2019)
Weill Cornell Medical School, “Finding your voice as a healthcare leader,” Speaker (2019)
NYU Langone Medical School, “The state of healthcare and finding your purpose,” Speaker (2019)
HIMSS, “More signal, less noise,” Moderator (2019)
Mindful MD, “Physician wellness and influence,” Presenter + moderator (2019)
Cedar, “The everyday heroines improving healthcare,” Speaker (2019)
Google, “Future of digital health lunch,” Speaker (2019)
FeminEM, “Design your own book cover,” Workshop (2019)
Lina Health, “Amazing women in private practice: challenges and opportunities,” Panelist (2019)
Care Coordination & Technology Congress, “Women remaking care coordination,” Keynote speaker + video (2019)
Healthcare Businesswomen’s Association at Genentech, “Women remaking medicine: lessons from leading their way,” Panelist (2019)
Watermark Health and Life Sciences Congress, “Fireside panel: procedures,” Panelist (2019)
University of the Pacific, “Inspiring bold change in healthcare careers,” Speaker + workshop (2019)
The Expat Woman, “Women in sales and marketing,” Panelist (2019)
HIMSS at Space Health Innovation Conference, “Women changemakers in healthcare,” Interview (2019)
California State Capitol, “Policy day briefing on health data sharing progress in our state,” Moderator (2018)
Commonwealth Club, “Unblocking health data and sparking innovation,” Moderator (2018)
General Assembly, “Using data to tell better stories,” Speaker + workshop (2018)
Udacity, “Data foundations nanodegree,” Case study (2017)
Ministry of Awesome New Zealand, “Bold women: Story and survival in startups,” Speaker (2016)
PLAY Digital Media & Technology Conference, Panelist (2015)
Health Beat, “Cancer screening innovation,” Moderator (2014)
SXSW, “Making of the modern office,” Panelist (2012)