Trying for the perfect phrase? Going for perfect sometimes has a paradoxical effect–try tinkering instead! Then, track the effects of your communication experiments. And if you’re in Chicago at #hpm16, say hello!

Have you ever asked a patient what they’re hoping for, and they reply: “I’m hoping for a cure”. When your medical judgment tells you that a cure isn’t in the cards? The first time this happened to me, I didn’t quite know what to reply: “Uh, well, i’m feeling like i wished i hadn’t asked that […]

In the process of cultivating prognostic awareness, you’ll hear patients (& families) swing from extreme to extreme. What to do? (Hint: it’s about your own reactivity…). A tip of my hat to Vicki Jackson for this one! Check out her terrific communication guide on prognostic awareness.

Two notable contributions to the public dialogue about living and dying with a serious illness appeared this week. David Bowie’s stunning album, Blackstar was released just before his death was announced; and Paul Kalanithi’s memoir of his life as a neurosurgeon with cancer was published posthumously–with a pointed lesson for clinicians.

We all have emotions while we’re with patients—and we all need calibration so that we can distinguish whether we are feeling something that started with our patient, or something that started with ourselves. Find out how you can be clearer in the moment—and more effective as a communicator.

Do you ever walk in with your agenda but find your patient’s head is somewhere else? Try this principle from improvisational theatre…

When you’re in the middle of a conversation, your ability to switch between fast and slow thinking can make the difference between one step forward and two steps backwards. See how in this week’s tip!

When we’re in a conversation, we organize individual skills into sequences that we call ‘talking maps’–these maps help you know where you are going, so you don’t get lost in forest of skills…

John was waiting in the exam room for me. I was standing outside the door, not wanting to go inside. Two years ago his colon cancer was resected; one year ago his adjuvant chemo was completed. John had changed his diet, started hiking every weekend, and cut out a lot of beer. He lost 40 […]