I was so impressed, I asked all my residents to complete the course.

I took the Foundations of Communications course at Bronson after Dr. Marijo Snyder discussed it at a WMed meeting. I’ve been board certified in family medicine for 35 years and picture myself as a good communicator, having spent my entire career in clinical care. What I learned in the course surprised me in that even old guys like me can learn new, valuable tools to improve patient-centered communication skills. I learned the importance of emotion naming and reflection to the patient. The course taught me a more organized way to structure communication and patient interactions. I was so impressed, I asked all my residents to complete the course.

In the Delivering Bad News course, I found the use of standardized patients particularly valuable. I’ve modified the way I communicate bad news by using the ARIA method, which I did not use before the course.

I recently completed the Patients with Pain course. There I learned to not respond to emotion but to pause. This is a great technique as it diffuses the anger and fear around issues of pain. I especially am going to make sure all my residents take the Patients with Pain course as these communication skills are invaluable tools in our quest to decrease opioid prescribing.