Rana Lee Adawi Awdish

Rana Awdish, MD, FCCP is the author of In Shock, a critically acclaimed, bestselling memoir based on her own critical illness, released in over 60 countries and translated into ten languages. A critical care physician and faculty member of Wayne State University School of Medicine in Detroit, Michigan, she completed her medical degree at Wayne State in 2002 where she was inducted into the Alpha Omega Alpha national medical honor society, her residency at Mount Sinai Beth Israel in New York, and her fellowship training at Henry Ford Hospital where she serves as the current Director of the Pulmonary Hypertension Program. She also serves as Medical Director of Care Experience for the entire Health System. Dr. Awdish’s mandate is to improve the patient experience across the system and speak on patient advocacy at health care venues nationally.​

After suffering a sudden critical illness herself, she has devoted her career to improving empathy through connection and communication. She lectures to physicians, health care leaders and medical schools across the country and internationally. She was awarded the Speak-Up Hero award in 2014 for her work establishing a workshop based program called CLEAR (Connect, Listen, Emphasize, Align, Respect), which trains faculty and trainees in relationship-based communication skills utilizing improvisational actors.

1/ Transitioning Parenteral or Inhaled Treprostinil to Oral Treprostinil Diolamine: Case Series and Review of the Literature.

Smith ZR, Kelly B, Awdish RL, Hegab S.

J Pharm Pract. 2019 Oct;32(5):599-604. doi: 10.1177/0897190018764585. Epub 2018 Mar 20.

2. Role of Kindness in Cancer Care.

Berry LL, Danaher TS, Chapman RA, Awdish RLA.

J Oncol Pract. 2017 Nov;13(11):744-750. doi: 10.1200/JOP.2017.026195. Epub 2017 Oct 16. Review.

3. When Patients and Their Families Feel Like Hostages to Health Care.

Berry LL, Danaher TS, Beckham D, Awdish RLA, Mate KS.

Mayo Clin Proc. 2017 Sep;92(9):1373-1381. doi: 10.1016/j.mayocp.2017.05.015. Epub 2017 Aug 23. Review.

4. Recommendations for the clinical management of patients receiving macitentan for pulmonary arterial hypertension (PAH): A Delphi consensus document.

Rahaghi FF, Alnuaimat HM, Awdish RLA, Balasubramanian VP, Bourge RC, Burger CD, Butler J, Cauthen CG, Chakinala MM, deBoisblanc BP, Eggert MS, Engel P, Feldman J, McConnell JW, Park M, Sager JS, Sood N, Palevsky HI.

Pulm Circ. 2017 Jul-Sep;7(3):702-711. doi: 10.1177/2045893217721695. Epub 2017 Aug 22.

5. A View from the Edge - Creating a Culture of Caring.

Awdish RL.

N Engl J Med. 2017 Jan 5;376(1):7-9. doi: 10.1056/NEJMp1614078. No abstract available.

6. A Communications Bundle to Improve Satisfaction for Critically Ill Patients and Their Families: A Prospective, Cohort Pilot Study.

Awdish RL, Buick D, Kokas M, Berlin H, Jackman C, Williamson C, Mendez MP, Chasteen K.

J Pain Symptom Manage. 2017 Mar;53(3):644-649. doi: 10.1016/j.jpainsymman.2016.08.024. Epub 2016 Dec 29.

7. Treatment of patients with chronic thrombo embolic pulmonary hypertension: focus on riociguat.

Smith ZR, Makowski CT, Awdish RL.

Ther Clin Risk Manag. 2016 Jun 10;12:957-64. doi: 10.2147/TCRM.S80131. eCollection 2016. Review.

8. Inhaled Iloprost for Chronic Thromboembolic Pulmonary Hypertension (CTEPH) During Pregnancy: A Case Report.

Horng M, Mohammad I, Smith ZR, Awdish RL, Cajigas HR.

Pharmacotherapy. 2016 Sep;36(9):e142-7. doi: 10.1002/phar.1793. Epub 2016 Jul 22.

9. The role of tyrosine kinase inhibitor "Lapatinib" in pulmonary hypertension.

Alkhatib Y, Albashaireh D, Al-Aqtash T, Awdish R.

Pulm Pharmacol Ther. 2016 Apr;37:81-4. doi: 10.1016/j.pupt.2016.03.002. Epub 2016 Mar 8.

10. A Rare Case of Erdheim-Chester Disease and Langerhans Cell Histiocytosis Overlap Syndrome.

Nabi S, Arshad A, Jain T, Virk F, Gulati R, Awdish R.

Case Rep Pathol. 2015;2015:949163. doi: 10.1155/2015/949163. Epub 2015 Oct 22.

11. Classification and diagnosis of pulmonary hypertension.

Cajigas HR, Awdish R.

Heart Fail Rev. 2016 May;21(3):229-37. doi: 10.1007/s10741-015-9512-9. Review.

12. Definition, epidemiology and registries of pulmonary hypertension.

Awdish R, Cajigas H.

Heart Fail Rev. 2016 May;21(3):223-8. doi: 10.1007/s10741-015-9510-y. Review.

13. Impact of a Simulation-Based Communication Workshop on Resident Preparedness for End-of-Life Communication in the Intensive Care Unit.

Markin A, Cabrera-Fernandez DF, Bajoka RM, Noll SM, Drake SM, Awdish RL, Buick DS, Kokas MS, Chasteen KA, Mendez MP.

Crit Care Res Pract. 2015;2015:534879. doi: 10.1155/2015/534879. Epub 2015 Jun 25.

14. New onset pulmonary hypertension in a patient with primary biliary cirrhosis postorthotopic liver transplant.

Mittal C, Hassan S, Gulati R, Awdish R.

Eur J Gastroenterol Hepatol. 2014 Jul;26(7):812-3. doi: 10.1097/MEG.0000000000000106. No abstract available.

15. First-in-man experience with cryoplasty during graded balloon atrial septostomy to reduce spontaneous closure in a patient with severe pulmonary arterial hypertension.

Guerrero M, Cajigas H, Awdish R, Greenbaum A, Khandelwal A, Sandoval J.

EuroIntervention. 2014 Feb;9(10):1235-6. doi: 10.4244/EIJV9I10A206. No abstract available.

16. Early initiation of prostacyclin in portopulmonary hypertension: 10 years of a transplant center's experience.

Awdish RL, Cajigas HR.

Lung. 2013 Dec;191(6):593-600. doi: 10.1007/s00408-013-9501-5. Epub 2013 Aug 25.

17. Teaching and learning moments: The hematomato: lessons from the ICU.

Awdish RL.

Acad Med. 2012 May;87(5):557. doi: 10.1097/ACM.0b013e31824d285d. No abstract available.