Rashmi Sharma receives Hastings Center Cunniff-Dixon award

Dr. Rashmi Sharma, assistant professor in the Division of General Internal Medicine, has been selected to receive a 2016 Hastings Center Cunniff-Dixon Early Career Physician Award for improving the care of patients near the end of life.

She is one of only three early-career physicians in the country recognized with this award.

Dr. Sharma’s research focuses on reducing racial/ethnic disparities in end-of-life communication and improving the quality of end-of-life care through patient and family-centered communication. 

She is passionate about caring for diverse patient populations and helping patients to receive care that is in line with their values and goals, while supporting families in a culturally sensitive way.

As a medical educator, she teaches about end-of-life communication skills and cross-cultural issues at the end of life.

The Cunniff-Dixon Foundation was created in 2005 in memory of Carley Cunniff and in recognition of Dr. Peter S. Dixon. Carley died after a 3-year battle with breast cancer and Peter Dixon was her attending physician who enabled her to die a peaceful death at home with her family and loved ones. The foundation’s mission is to enrich the doctor-patient relationship near the end of life.

Dr. Sharma will receive the award at a ceremony at the UW later this year.