Rana L. Awdish, MD, MS, author of the bestselling medical memoir In Shock: My Journey from Death to Recovery and the Redemptive Power of Hope, shared her remarkable story during Tuesday’s Plenary Session at the ATS International Conference.

Dr. Awdish, medical director of care experience at Henry Ford Health and the director of the Pulmonary Hypertension Program at Henry Ford Hospital, recounted her experience suffering a catastrophic liver rupture that led to hemorrhagic shock, multiple organ failure, and the loss of her pregnancy on the final day of her pulmonary and critical care fellowship at the health system where she’s currently employed. In the operating room, she recalls hearing, “We’re losing her. She’s circling the drain.” This moment marked the beginning of her temporary transformation from physician to patient.

Her recovery was long, physically devastating, and psychologically disorienting. She left the hospital disabled, struggling with her identity and grief. Though she respected the life-saving power of medicine, she also saw its limitations — particularly its inability to sit with suffering. “I saw how difficult it was for us to sit with suffering that we couldn’t fix, to just attend to grief.” Health care systems are designed to intervene and control, but not necessarily to witness or honor the full human experience of illness, Dr. Awdish said.

Her perspective was also profoundly shaped by her friendship with her late colleague Tiffany Christensen, a patient advocate who was living with cystic fibrosis and had multiple lung transplants. Dr. Awdish began to understand that there is a vast difference between treating illness and honoring the lived experience of illness. “Tiffany challenged the notion that empathy alone is sufficient, arguing instead that patients should be respected as partners whose bodies possess wisdom and resilience,” she said. That reshaped her view of healing, encouraging her to move beyond technical care toward relational connection and respect.

Dr. Awdish also internalized the concept that “the map is not the territory,” highlighting how medical data — charts, labs, imaging — are only representations of patients, not the full reality of their lived experience. Her metaphor underscores the danger of reducing patients to data points, which can obscure their humanity.

During her arduous recovery, Dr. Awdish embarked on what she called a “re-embodiment quest,” experimenting with mindfulness, art, and yoga to reconnect with her body. These practices taught her to observe sensations without judgment, helping her rebuild trust in her physical self. However, she also learned the limits of these tools when she attempted to manage a serious bowel obstruction through meditation alone. Acceptance must coexist with appropriate medical intervention, she said.

A turning point came when she intuitively sensed she had cancer. This intuition proved correct after diagnostic testing, reinforcing her belief in the body’s inherent wisdom. Rather than seeing illness as betrayal, she began to view her body as an ally that “was trustworthy and it was intuitive, and it was wise.”

This reframing deepened her appreciation for the body’s capacity to heal and adapt, even in illness. Her evolving perspective was further illustrated as she witnessed her body’s remarkable ability to heal itself — forming new blood vessels to bypass a blockage. These moments inspired awe and reinforced her belief that the sick body is not broken, but adaptive and intelligent.

Healing requires a shift in how we see patients — not as problems to solve, but as whole beings deserving of respect. She concluded, “Healing requires something different from us. It requires that we shift our understanding of sick bodies away from viewing them as broken objects that we need to fix. It requires us to view them as deserving of deep reverence.”

Wednesday’s Plenary Session also recognized and ratified newly appointed 2026-27 Society leaders, including  ATS President Michelle Ng Gong, MD, MS, ATSF. Immediate Past President Raed A. Dweik, MD, MBA, ATSF, welcomed Dr. Gong and told session attendees that being president was “the most amazing year probably of my life. Being your president has been really the highlight of my professional career.”

Dr. Gong’s journey has been shaped by immigration, family sacrifice, and a deep commitment to research and patient care. Coming to the U.S. from China as a child who did not speak English, she drew inspiration from her mother’s resilience as an immigrant who rebuilt her career through determination and sacrifice to provide educational opportunities for her children. Dr. Gong said these early experiences instilled in her a strong sense of purpose and focus on education. These values ultimately guided her through a career in science, engineering, and medicine that culminated in leadership roles in pulmonary and critical care.

Dr. Gong’s trajectory was also shaped by personal experiences with her father’s smoking and eventual lung cancer diagnosis, which underscored for her the life-changing impact of clinical research and preventive care. This led her to focus on clinical trials, public health, and implementation science, particularly in underserved communities. She reflected on the role of community — mentors, colleagues, and family — as a vital network that supports growth, resilience, and meaningful impact in health care.

“For a tree to truly flourish, roots alone are not enough — it requires a network of branches and leaves to grow, adapt, and sustain life,” Dr. Gong said. “In the same way, health care and scientific progress depend not only on individual foundations, but on a connected community of collaboration, mentorship, and shared purpose that allows us to thrive and help others breathe easier.”