August 27, 2019 | 3 min read Letting the Laughter In By Michelle Gyenes, MS, Columbia Mailman School of Public Health Excellent clinicians know that laughter can be a powerful tool in enhancing communication and building trust, particularly when working with older patients.
October 10, 2022 | 3 min read “What Else?” By Matthew McEvoy, MD, Houston, Texas Asking these simple two words and showing genuine concern can bring out a richer story and promote healing.
May 18, 2022 | 3 min read A Matter of Interpretation By Kathleen Page, MD, Johns Hopkins Medicine Practice, preparation, and intentionality are essential to mastering medical skills, including how to communicate effectively with an interpreter.
July 21, 2025 | 5 min read Listening past the barriers When caring for veterans in civilian healthcare settings, recognize that stoicism, brief answers, or emotional distance often reflect military culture—not disengagement. Building trust starts with patience and listening, opening the door to better understanding and care.
The author with teammates. August 30, 2018 | 1 min read The Importance and Psychology of Facial Expression By Patrick Byrne, MBA, MD, Johns Hopkins University School of Medicine Carefully noting your patient's facial expression consciously helps you "be" with your patient more effectively, to meet them where they are in their emotional state.
February 14, 2023 | 3 min read Caring For Patients by Listening By Shari Lawson, MD, Johns Hopkins Medicine Treat every patient with respect and address all their concerns.
November 11, 2022 | 2 min read Is that so? By Sarah Radtke, PhD, Johns Hopkins Medicine Patients and families may share experiences that we feel are inaccurate, improbable, or impossible. Discussing their statements nonjudgmentally helps to form trusting relationships.
Painting by David Kopacz, copyright with the artist. July 11, 2023 | 5 min read Partial Listening is Partial Medicine By David Kopacz, MD, University of Washington Sometimes we hear only what we're listening for, and if we divide attention, we can miss critical information. We must strive to Iisten with the "third ear" to hear not only what's said, but also what's unsaid.
July 5, 2023 | 3 min read What brought you in today? By Hailey Haffey, PhD, University of Utah Asking my patients open-ended questions about how they physically traveled to the appointment can reveal important information.
February 4, 2021 | 2 min read The Clinician as Patient By Neha Pidatala, MD, New York, New York When you’re a patient, use your medical knowledge to clearly communicate your goals of care. When treating a patient who works in healthcare, consider their unique perspective to facilitate meaningful discussions.
February 18, 2020 | 3 min read 4 negotiating tips from “Never Split the Difference” By Scott Wright, MD, Johns Hopkins Medicine We regularly negotiate with patients en route to shared decision making. Tips from Voss' book "Never Split the Difference" can improve your communications with patients.
September 28, 2020 | 2 min read Practicing the Art of Listening By Jeffrey Millstein, MD, Penn Medicine Listening is essential for humanistic patient care. Listening without interrupting may strengthen the patient-clinician relationship.
June 20, 2024 | 2 min read Don’t touch me While caring for a patient who was agitated, I witnessed the power of communicating gently and compassionately. In helping a patient to feel safe and respected, healthcare professionals can gain a more complete understanding of patients’ needs.
September 17, 2020 | 3 min read 5 Tips for Talking About Autopsy Results With Your Patient’s Family By J. Stephen Nix, MD, Johns Hopkins Medicine Managing loved ones’ expectations before the autopsy is critical. Ensuring there's ample time to privately review and explain the results can help bring meaning and closure to their loss.
August 26, 2021 | 1 min read Destigmatizing Addiction: The Power of Words By Namrata Walia, MD, Baylor College of Medicine Please use the term 'person with substance use disorder’ instead of ‘addict’!
January 20, 2021 | 3 min read How to Repair Patient-Clinician Relationships By Shara Nauth, MD, Western University, Ontario, Canada To rebuild a patient-clinician relationship, apologize and acknowledge your patient’s feelings.
February 28, 2023 | 1 min read Mitigating social isolation By Mfon Umoh, MD, PhD, Johns Hopkins Medicine All medical specialties need to screen for isolation. Asking patients who their social supports are and who they feel close to is a good starting point.
October 1, 2020 | 3 min read 3 Tips to Improve Your Body Language By Adam Koenig, Medical Student, University of Toledo To build a strong patient-clinician relationship, position your body with an open posture and make good eye contact.
February 27, 2018 | 2 min read On Discrimination, Transparency, and Mutual Respect By Anika Hines, PhD, MPH, Johns Hopkins University School of Medicine Patients' past experience with discrimination may influence how they interact with you. Acknowledging this may improve communication and patient care.
After a clinic visit with a Black girl and her father, the dad asked where I went to college. When I told him Stanford, he said, “I knew it!” Then, he looked at his daughter and said, “If she can do it, you can too!” April 13, 2022 | 2 min read The Role of Disclosure in Medicine By Rebekah Fenton, MD, Northwestern University Carefully considered clinician self-disclosure can forge a more personal connection between patients and healthcare professionals.
November 13, 2019 | 4 min read The Art of Scaffolding Conversations By Robert Trevino, MD, PhD, Medical College of Wisconsin Scaffolding when communicating is meeting the other person where they are in their understanding. This is essential for healthcare discussions to best meet the needs of our patients.
"Many of us made unfair assumptions about the ability or willingness of older patients to embrace telemedicine, and have been humbled in recognizing our biases." August 11, 2020 | 3 min read Insights From Practicing Telemedicine By Jeffrey Millstein, MD, Penn Medicine To make the most of video visits, stay attuned to your patients' nonverbal cues and avoid any background distractions in your environment.
June 10, 2020 | 2 min read 6 Lessons Learned From One Month as a Journalist By Heather Kagan, MD, Johns Hopkins Medicine Clinicians—like journalists— must communicate in an open and straightforward manner.
The author's pediatrician was an early role model in her development as a neurologist. October 15, 2018 | 1 min read Respect, Empathy, and Communciation By Andrea Corse, MD, Johns Hopkins University School of Medicine My approach to care is to provide the kind of care you would want for yourself and your family.
November 21, 2022 | 3 min read The Angry Daughter By Bill Bachman, MD, Albany Medical College When working with patients or loved ones who are confrontational, recognize your own feelings, try to understand theirs, and know when to ask for help from colleagues.
August 22, 2019 | 3 min read Leveraging Your Patient’s Strength By Keri Bischoff, MA, WellBeing Coach partnering with Johns Hopkins Excellent clinicians discover their patients talents to best deliver both recommendations and personalized care.
December 3, 2020 | 4 min read The Other Side of the Glass By Michelle Sharp, MD, MSH, Johns Hopkins Medicine Having a loved one in the ICU is one of the hardest things someone can experience. Timely and compassionate communication from clinicians to families is invaluable.
January 11, 2022 | 1 min read How to Share Disappointing News By Simone Lescott, MD, Johns Hopkins Medicine When sharing bad news with patients, acknowledge their response and validate their emotions. Allow for time to address concerns and answer questions.
A shared client-therapist drawing created in a teletherapy session on Zoom whiteboard. Copyright with the authors. May 4, 2020 | 2 min read Connecting With Teens Via Telemedicine By Michelle Munson, LMSW, PhD, Nadia Jenefsky, MPS, LCAT Suspending judgement is critical to building a trusting relationship, especially with teens.
August 6, 2019 | 2 min read 3 Lessons From Your Patient’s Impatience By Iro Filippaki, PhD, Johns Hopkins University School of Medicine The excellent clinician acknowledges their patient's impatience and frustration. In doing so, relationships with patients and clinical outcomes may be improved.
October 22, 2025 | 3 min read Coordination with compassion To build an exceptional care team: foster psychological safety, model humility, and solicit input from every person. Daily rituals of respect can sustain excellent patient care.
The Baltimore Museum of Art. Wikipedia.org. Photograph by Eli Pousson, 2018 March 25. April 7, 2020 | 3 min read The Personal Responses Tour in Medical Education By Howard Chang, Medical Student, Johns Hopkins Medicine Arts-based medical education improves fundamental clinical skills, including ambiguity tolerance, reflective ability, bias awareness, and empathy. It can also enhance the well-being of healthcare professionals.
June 22, 2018 | 2 min read Ars Medica: The Art of Medicine By Javier de la Maza, MD, Johns Hopkins University Storytelling is a powerful tool that can be used to shape our reality and reconnect with our patients. Building meaningful relationships with our patients reminds us the importance of the human experience in providing clinically excellent care.
June 8, 2023 | 3 min read The Swiss Army Knife By Cory Rohlfsen, MD, University of Nebraska Medical Center Sometimes clinicians’ wellspring of empathy runs dry. Unfolding a few simple tools—like mirroring patients’ nonverbal communication—can improve therapeutic relationships and allow us to provide compassionate care even when we are not at our best.
July 1, 2024 | 3 min read The power of honesty By Keshav Khanijow, MD, Johns Hopkins Medicine Prioritizing clear communication with patients and using plain language to explain clinical information helps to build trust.
September 3, 2025 | 2 min read “Ronaldo! Ronaldo!” Healthcare professionals can build genuine relationships with patients by recognizing and responding to the cultural touchstones patients use to express themselves.
December 19, 2024 | 1 min read In the aftermath By Jeffrey Millstein, MD, Penn Medicine The murder of a health insurance company CEO has drawn attention to a swell of frustration with America’s healthcare system. Clinicians can extend empathy to patients who suffer simply trying to receive care.
March 27, 2023 | 10 min read Ever forward: caring for patients who are transgender and gender-expansive By Paula Neira, JD, MSN, RN, CEN, FAAN, Johns Hopkins Medicine Treat all patients with dignity and respect and ask how they’d like to be addressed.
January 21, 2021 | 1 min read Lost in Translation By Sonal Gandhi, MBBS, MD, Johns Hopkins Medicine When you and your patient don’t speak the same language, clear communication is critical. When an interpreter is unavailable, reach out to staff and others for help.
March 20, 2023 | 5 min read Lazy gardening (archives, 2023) By Ken Koon Wong, MD, Cleveland Clinic, Naomi Tyree, MD, Summa Health, Ohio Talking about shared interests, such as gardening, is a wonderful way to deepen relationships with patients.
June 6, 2024 | 2 min read Attention please By Carol Vidal, MD, PhD, Johns Hopkins Medicine To connect more meaningfully, clinicians need to be more interesting than a young person’s phone. Finding creative ways to engage these patients will improve the relationship.
January 26, 2021 | 2 min read How to Talk With Patients About Misinformation By Stephanie McGann Jantzen, Strategic & Crisis Communications Professional Educating yourself about misinformation circulating on social media will help you talk with your patients about false claims. This may prevent dangerous behaviors and promote health.
A patient's Maine coon kitten, pug puppy, and knitting project. September 14, 2020 | 3 min read The Unexpected Benefits of Seeing Patients Virtually By Susan Lehmann, MD, Johns Hopkins Medicine Telemedicine allows patients and clinicians to see and respond to each other’s facial expressions. Plus, clinicians are offered deeper insight into their patient’s world.
April 9, 2019 | 1 min read Being Yourself as a Professional By Kim Stokes, MHS, PA-C, East Carolina University Be kind, be humble - and be yourself!
July 31, 2025 | 3 min read “What would you do?” Beyond giving facts to patients, informed consent is an opportunity to understand patients’ truest concerns. Shared decision-making isn't just a conversation—it's about building a trusting relationship that empowers the patient.
"I learned that she didn't prepare full meals. Instead, she usually snacked on food between classes and rehabilitation." August 17, 2021 | 2 min read There’s More to The Story By Alexis Coslick, DO, MS, Johns Hopkins Medicine While treating a college athlete who wasn’t recovering as expected, taking the time to understand her story uncovered new details that informed her care.
December 5, 2024 | 2 min read Risorius: the power of a smile By Eric Last, DO, Northwell Health, Wantagh, New York A genuine smile can convey empathy, warmth, and reassurance, fostering a positive and trusting patient-clinician relationship. This helps create a more welcoming and comforting atmosphere.
April 25, 2022 | 1 min read Showing Empathy to Reduce Patient Anxiety By Mariana Calleja, MD, Grupo Quirón, Barcelona, Spain Smiling, communicating calmly, and avoiding medical jargon can help patients feel more comfortable and relaxed.
February 20, 2023 | 2 min read Responding to Rejection By Joseph Carrese, MD, MPH, Johns Hopkins Medicine Ultimately, patients with adequate decision-making capacity decide about their course of treatment. When patients choose not to follow our recommendations, find the best possible “plan B” together.
April 19, 2018 | 3 min read Becoming a Mindful Clinician By Patricia Dobkin, PhD, McGill University Department of Medicine Most healthcare professionals maintain high standards, perfectionistic tendencies, and critical minds. This appears to be an advantage in a high stakes-high risk work environment. However, these habits of mind may backfire when held too tightly and lead to emotional exhaustion. Being mindful can offset this problem.
