We just got back from Prague–and when we demonstrated asking permission there, our Czech colleagues told us it was ‘weird’.

The latest issue of NEJM contains a Medical Decision Making case involving a 70 year old woman dying of sepsis and ARDS in the ICU. But what’s missing is the communication skill critical to using substituted judgment–and something else altogether. For more on the communication skills you’ll need to run a family conference, check out the VitalTalk […]

Have you moved too quickly to make plans for the next steps after delivering serious news but the family or patient wasn’t ready? Dr. Caroline Hurd explains her framework of the Rapport Savings Account for how to think about the social capital needed to stay aligned with your patient throughout the process.

How can you approach a patient who is resistant to one of your recommendations? Dr. Lynn O’Neill explains how using Ask-Tell-Ask helps her better understand the patient’s underlying concerns.

I met Seth Godin last month and asked him if he had advice about communication with a patient as a creative act. His answer surprised me.

When bluff & bluster are the new normal, empathy means more. But you have to know how to regulate yourself. Inspired by a woman who, losing her sight, couldn’t understand why her doctor didn’t get it. 

We’ve talked a lot about missing emotion cues. But giving information can be tricky, in a different way–so we’re introducing a new skill for you to add to your toolbox: the headline.

Your patient just had a biopsy. The uncertainty is driving her crazy. What do you do? (Thank you for posing this challenge Tom Lycan MD!). Do you have a quandry? Email me: tony@vitaltalk.org.

Anders Ericcson invented expertise research (think: deliberate practice)–and we’ve been following his work for years. Malcolm Gladwell mentioned his work (and the so-called 10,000 hour rule) in Blink; now Ericcson has written his own book, Peak: Secrets from the Science of Expertise. I sat down with him in Seattle–& he revealed a super-cool tip for Vitaltalkers! […]