Karin Porter-Williamson, MD
Dr. Porter-Williamson is an Associate Professor, Division Director of Palliative Medicine, and the Medical Director of Palliative Care Services at the University of Kansas Medical Center in Kansas City, Kansas. Dr. Porter-Williamson grew up in Topeka, Kansas, and attended the University of Kansas in Lawrence, Kansas, for her undergraduate degree in Biology, French, and Psychology. She completed medical school at the University of Kansas School of Medicine and her residency in Internal Medicine at the University of Kansas Medical Center in Kansas City, Kansas. She then completed her fellowship training in Hospice and Palliative Medicine at San Diego Hospice in San Diego, California. She then returned to the University of Kansas, where she has been on faculty for the past 21 years. Dr. Porter-Williamson is board-certified in Hospice and Palliative Care by the American Board of Medical Specialties.
Dr. Porter-Williamson is a member of the American Academy of Hospice and Palliative Medicine. She was named a Castle Connolly Top Doctor in 2022 and received the Ann Allegre Award of Leadership in Hospice and Palliative Medicine in 2017. In 2007 and 2009, she received the Kansas City Super Doctor Award.
Dr. Porter-Williamson's academic interests include building systems for patient-centered care, goal-concordant plans of care, improving the value of medical care for patients and families facing serious illness, and integrating the principles of Palliative Medicine as the standard of care for all seriously ill patients and families. Dr. Porter-Williamson's educational focus is on the training of medical professionals and inter-professional teams across the continuum of care to understand these principles and integrate them into their practice, with specific attention to communication skills necessary for goals of care discussions and serious illness care planning.
Dr. Porter-Williamson discloses that she has no relevant financial relationships with any organization producing, marketing, reselling, or distributing healthcare goods or services consumed by or used on patients relative to the content of this presentation.
