Anthony Back
About the Teacher
Why study with them?
Role: Co-lead Facilitator.
Dr. Anthony Back is Professor of Medicine at the University of Washington. He was educated at Stanford University and Harvard Medical School, and did his postgraduate medical training at the University of Washington in Seattle and the Fred Hutchinson Cancer Research Center. His research into patient-oncologist communication, which was funded by the National Cancer Institute and numerous other foundations, led to the founding of VitalTalk, a 501c3 with the mission of disseminating communication skill training to doctors and nurses who care for patients with a serious illness and their families.
Dr. Back's work has been recognized by the American Cancer Society with the Pathfinder in Palliative Care Award, and by the American Society of Clinical Oncology with the first Walther Cancer Foundation Palliative and Supportive Care Award. In 2018, he turned his attention to psychedelic therapy, writing what remains the only first person account by a physician of a guided psychedelic experience to be published in a medical journal (“What Psilocybin Taught Me About Dying”).
Dr. Back is now conducting the first clinical trial of psilocybin-assisted therapy for doctors and nurses with symptoms of depression and burnout associated with their front-line work in the COVID pandemic, funded by the Steven and Alexandra Cohen Foundation.
Dr. Anthony Back is Professor of Medicine at the University of Washington. He was educated at Stanford University and Harvard Medical School, and did his postgraduate medical training at the University of Washington in Seattle and the Fred Hutchinson Cancer Research Center. His research into patient-oncologist communication, which was funded by the National Cancer Institute and numerous other foundations, led to the founding of VitalTalk, a 501c3 with the mission of disseminating communication skill training to doctors and nurses who care for patients with a serious illness and their families.
Dr. Back's work has been recognized by the American Cancer Society with the Pathfinder in Palliative Care Award, and by the American Society of Clinical Oncology with the first Walther Cancer Foundation Palliative and Supportive Care Award. In 2018, he turned his attention to psychedelic therapy, writing what remains the only first person account by a physician of a guided psychedelic experience to be published in a medical journal (“What Psilocybin Taught Me About Dying”).
Dr. Back is now conducting the first clinical trial of psilocybin-assisted therapy for doctors and nurses with symptoms of depression and burnout associated with their front-line work in the COVID pandemic, funded by the Steven and Alexandra Cohen Foundation.