ABSTRACT
Successful conversations leave patients feeling adequately informed, supported, and cared for, bringing about a highly satisfying, positive experience for both doctor and patient. For patients facing life-threatening illnesses, an open and empathetic dialogue with their doctor can be an important tool that helps them confront their disease, an existential experience that can later be applied to other areas of their lives. Doctors can rely on checklists and professional development curricula that have been certified by recognized medical bodies for nearly every aspect of their everyday work; by contrast, there are few opportunities for continued or advanced training focusing on how one should, or might conduct the conversations. The positive effects of training are measurable: patients of doctors who have undergone training in communication show significantly lower levels of stress compared to the patients of a control group of doctors without equivalent training.
