Taking Your Communication Skills to the Next Level

2006 Virtual Mentor  
Communicating with patients who have life-threatening illnesses is a core medical skill. Often after watching an experienced attending physician guide a patient through the transition from disease-modifying treatment to end-of-life care, students assume that this expertise comes naturally. Nothing could be further from the truth. In fact, end-of-life communication skills require deliberate intent, practice and reflective work-little of which can be detected by watching a master. An expert skier
more » ... can make a black diamond run look easy; expert communicators can make difficult conversations look simple.
doi:10.1001/virtualmentor.2006.8.9.medu1-0609 pmid:23234708 fatcat:pfmqacexbbe3je65i72bawbgje