Demondes Haynes, MD, FCCP, will deliver this year’s keynote address, Perseverance and Motivation: Empathetic Medicine Amidst COVID and Beyond, during the CHEST 2021 Opening Session, 3:30 pm – 5:00 pm CT Sunday, October 17.

A pulmonary and critical care physician and a CHEST Fellow, Dr. Haynes serves on CHEST’s Training and Transitions Committee and Scientific Program Committee, as well as chairs the Diversity and Inclusion Roundtable. He is a Professor of Medicine and the Associate Dean for Admissions in the School of Medicine at the University of Mississippi.

In his address to CHEST 2021 attendees, Dr. Haynes will speak to persevering amid the COVID-19 pandemic and the importance of identifying the things that keep us motivated. He will address the importance of empathic communication with patients and the contribution of creating a more diverse and inclusive workforce in medicine.

Dr. Haynes will also discuss ways that today’s health care professionals can encourage enrollment in medical programs and training for more individuals from traditionally underrepresented groups to build the foundation for a more representative and empathetic future of medicine.

“He was born and raised in Mississippi, worked his way into his current role, and is highly regarded in that position,” said CHEST President Steven Q. Simpson, MD, FCCP. “Because of this experience, Dr. Haynes understands the demands on people of color who are working their way up in a system that hasn’t always been predisposed to making a clear pathway for them.”

The topic of Dr. Haynes’ address correlates with the CHEST Foundation’s work in advocating for the use of empathy in establishing rapport with a patient so that the provider and patient can work together more effectively for the betterment of the patient’s health.

“Empathy is quite simply the ability to look at an issue from the other person’s point of view, and often, when you are empathetic, you can also feel things from the other person’s point of view,” Dr. Simpson said. “But the point of empathetic medicine is for doctors not to get so tied up in the schedule, how much they have to do, and how little time they have, that they forget to take a patient’s point of view in that exam room or in that hospital room and to let the patient know that you do hear what they’re expressing and you do understand and feel compassion.”

In his keynote address, Dr. Haynes will share with CHEST 2021 attendees his experience and what each and every health care worker can do to build a stronger foundation for the future of empathetic and diverse medicine. Join the conversation by utilizing the hashtag #CHESTKeynote along with #CHEST2021 during Dr. Haynes’ address.