Maria S Goddard MD, CWS

23/10/2025

My dad is a journalist, my mum is a voracious reader and letter writer and my sister is the best storyteller I know in both written and spoken words. So do not be fooled by these children in medical and scientific fields, I grew up in a very literary household.

And even though we share DNA and some lived experiences, each of us communicates differently. If you know us, you can identify our words. And we recognize them when they show up in other places.

Now drawing is a skillset only bestowed to my sister, so she has been my graphic artist since she could hold a pen. (Yes, this is unpaid sibling labor, do not remind her. lol) So that is one job that I give to AI…mostly.

Every day I am sent new emails or fed new ads about how I can use technology to make my life easier especially with creating content on social media platforms. And we still remain in a world where adoption and development have quickly outpaced the rules of engagement.

So here are some of my guidelines to maintain your authenticity:

1. If you like someone’s content, don’t just put their words into a LLM and ask it to rewrite it. Share the original author’s post that inspired you with your own commentary. The goal of these posts is of course to foster discussion and connection

2. Tag people if you are creating a new discussion based off of an original post

3. Reference that AI was used. I love that the photos generated now have tags automatically

The COVID-19 pandemic showed us that even with all of our fantastic technology, actual human contact is a vital part of the human experience. So by all means, use technology but maintain your own voice as well. I promise you, even though it is getting more difficult, we can tell. When we talk about literacy, we tend to focus on the reading and forget that writing is part of the equation as well.

For this Health Literacy Awareness Month, and beyond, remember that your humanity has never been more important in the ways your choose to communicate.

What are your own rules for AI etiquette and thoughts on how AI is being used?

14/10/2025

Common Pathway of Diabetic Foot Ulcer Occurence and Recurrence http://www.nejm.org/doi/full/10.1056/NEJMra1615439?utm_source=Facebook&utm_medium=social&utm_campaign=David+G.+Armstrong&utm_content=Facts1 #.WUQe84njVig.twitter

14/10/2025

Water Cooler Chronicles

I was chatting with my friend and colleague Karen Bauer this weekend after a community screening event she participated in and she expressed how impressed she was by how well people with chronic kidney disease understood their medical condition. I responded to her that these individuals are often treated by a well-educated and trained group of medical specialists. This of course made us think about the wound care space.

Growing up, my parents and future teachers at all levels would remind me that I did not fully understand a concept until I could explain it to another person. I remember in residency some of my attendings would pull out blank pieces of paper and sit next to the patient and their families as they drew the anatomy of a surgical procedure as they went over the plan. Or listening early in my burn fellowship training as they explained fluid resuscitation or the excision and grafting plan.

Unfortunately, the field of wound care has not traditionally had a clearly defined training curriculum. We represent a varied group of individuals ranging from surgical training to 2 day “wound care” course to the apprenticeship model of learning from someone who had done it before.

Additionally, we treat a complex myriad of conditions with different pathophysiologies across a wide age range. Burn wounds are not the same as pressure injuries which are totally different from diabetic foot ulcers. And yet, one clinician is often treating them all. Not to mention the underlying medical comorbid conditions that either lead to the wound developing or inhibiting its resolution.

Even with all of these factors what is the most frequent first question? What dressing do I put on this? No matter the etiology or the individual.

Wound care patients are often given the label of being “noncompliant” but how can they fully participate in a care plan when their condition or treatment has not been fully explained to them?

October is Health Literacy Month and the goal is to improve the ability of individuals to make informed decisions about their medical care and health based on appropriate information.

So how can we improve the health literacy of patients with wounds from a clinician perspective?

🔍 Understand and identify wound etiology

🗣️ Explain the disease process and treatment plan in simple terms. Analogies can be helpful or using alternative teaching methods

👥 Use the “teach back” method to have the patient and/or caregiver explain to you their understanding of the plan

📚Maintain your continuing medical education no matter where you started or where you are today. Medicine is an amazing field that is constantly growing and making new discoveries

What are some tips you have to improve health literacy in your specialty?

25/08/2025

Join us tonight! Link below for register

CariWN Webinar
On Monday, August 25, 2025, Dr. Maria S. Goddard, MD, CWS, MAPWCA
will speak to "Mastering Burn Care: From Triage to Reconstruction".
Registration is free
When: Monday, August 25, 2025, 8:00-9:00 PM EST | 9:00-10:00 PM AST
Topic: "Mastering Burn Care: From Triage to Reconstruction".
Presenter: Dr. Maria S. Goddard, MD, CWS, MAPWCA
Objectives:
Upon completion of this talk, participants will be able to:
1. Perform effective initial triage of patients with burn injuries
2. Conduct a comprehensive primary and secondary survey
3. Implement immediate life-saving interventions
4. Differentiate between different mechanisms of burn injuries
5. Apply principles of advanced wound care for burns
6. Recognize indications for surgical intervention
7. Understand the fundamentals of burn reconstruction
8. Identify special considerations in different patient populations

Register here: https://forms.gle/FKu9nFJmuj2Rqiid6

05/08/2024

Thanks to Dr Jonathan Johnson MD,MBA,CWSP,FAPWCA and HMP Global for inviting me as a guest on this week’s “Innovations in Wound Care” podcast episode discussing Burns & Biofilm!

14/05/2024

Thrilled to announce that my Wound Management Essentials Course with Medmastery has launched! Click the link below to register and learn at your own pace.

Wound Management Essentials

03/02/2024

When I was 5 years old, I knew I wanted to be a doctor and I love this profession and the people I have been so fortunate to cross paths with over my training and career.

February 3rd has been designated as National Women Physicians Day to recognize Dr. Elizabeth Blackwell’s birthday. She was the first woman in the United States to obtain a medical degree. While there have been great advances made since that time, there is still inequality in pay, education and opportunities, especially for women from underrepresented minorities.

The work continues.

14/08/2023

I am looking forward to giving two talks at Wound Week 2023 Sept 20th-24th, 2023 with American Professional Wound Care Association (APWCA) and several of my fantastic colleagues. Registration link is below. Hope to see you there!

08/05/2023

: Happy Nurses Week to the many amazing people I have been fortunate to work with over the years. Many of you are now friends. The job is not easy but you do it with such grace under pressure. I hope you take care of yourself half as well as you do others. Grateful to work with you and know you.

01/06/2020

As we enter Wound Healing Awareness Month with much uncertainty and turmoil in the world, let us remember that we care for an entire human being. The wounds we treat are a manifestation of physiological, psychological and sociological issues. Evaluate the entire patient! !