The Overlooked Never Event
March 16, 2017
by: Ryan Van Wert, MD John’s Story Since his college days, John was always a runner. Now at age 65, limping…
Dying to be heard
September 19, 2016
In the notes of the three nephrologists who had seen Carlos Garcia in the weeks before me, I read about…
JAMA ICU Trial: Messaging, Information Toxicity, and The Simpsons
July 13, 2016
by: Alex Smith, @AlexSmithMD There's been some terrific discussion about the ICU trial published in JAMA. I'd like to share…
VitalTalk: Mastering Serious Illness Communication
January 29, 2016
by: Eric Widera (@ewidera) It was with some hesitancy I decided last year to take the VitalTalk Faculty Development course.…
Lessons from the Stage: A Lesson About Patient Communication Learned in an Improv Class
November 20, 2014
My husband and I took a beginner’s improv class not long ago. Two of the most fundamental rules they taught…
Training doctors to be a little more like cab drivers
September 24, 2014
by: Alex Smith, @AlexSmithMD As it's early in the year, we usually like to post about some advice for trainees,…
Handshakes, handholding, and other dangerous methods of transmitting bacteria
September 10, 2014
by: Alex Smith @AlexSmithMD In a recent study in the American Journal of Infection Control, researchers coated a gloved hand in…
“Palliative chemotherapy” – a term that should be laid to rest
May 14, 2014
by: Alex Smith, @AlexSmithMD What is this term "palliative chemotherapy"? Are the words "palliative" and "chemotherapy" so incompatible that their…
Communication training: is simulation enough?
December 5, 2013
A video example of palliative care communication techniques in the wrong hands by: Alex Smith, @AlexSmithMD Major paper in JAMA…
Literature Potpourri
October 26, 2013
by: Alex Smith, @AlexSmithMD Ronald Reagan died in 2004 of advanced dementia Some great paper GeriPal readers should be award…