Shireen Heidari, MD is a palliative care and family medicine physician. She works as part of the inpatient palliative care consult team providing complex symptom management and support for patients and families facing any stage of a serious illness. Dr. Heidari is the program director for the Stanford University Hospice and Palliative Fellowship. She was also the clinical lead for the Stanford site of the PERIOP-PC Study, which involved collaboration with the surgical department to evaluate the impact of early palliative care support for patients and family members preparing for major upper gastrointestinal cancer surgery.

Dr. Heidari has written about the importance of human connection and stigma around healthcare workers seeking help for their mental health in The New England Journal of Medicine, The Lancet Respiratory Medicine, and The Intima. She hopes that by sharing her own story, she can continue being part of this conversation as we advocate for culture change in medicine and more sustainable practice.

Before moving to northern California, Dr. Heidari attended medical school at Boston University, completed her residency at UC San Diego where she served as chief resident, followed by palliative fellowship at UCLA. Her interests include early palliative care integration, narrative medicine, and expanding primary palliative care skills for all clinicians. Outside of her clinical and mentorship work, she is likely writing creatively or outside chasing her border collie.