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Time Out Before Talking: Communication as a Medical Procedure

This article explains how taking a medical history, delivering bad news, and discussing care goals might be improved by considering how clinicians prepare for invasive technical interventions.

:

  • Role-play (with a fellow student) a physician delivering bad news about a cancer diagnosis to a patient.
  • Critique the communication demonstrated during the role-play. What worked well, and what could have improved the interaction?
  • Ask yourself what you think about the argument put forth in this commentary—will thinking of communication as a procedure improve your interactions with patients?

Annals of Internal Medicine is the premier internal medicine academic journal published by the »Æ¹ÏµÎµÎapp (ACP). It is one of the most widely cited and influential specialty medical journals in the world.

Back to the March 2021 issue of ACP IMpact