Workshop Slated on Doctor-Patient Communications

Local allied health professionals are invited to attend a two-hour training workshop titled "Doctor-Patient Communication: A Critical Link to Malpractice Risk," on Wednesday, November 15, in the north meeting room of Egbert Hall, from 10:00 a.m. to noon. It will be conducted by Rich Frankel, professor of medicine at the University of Rochester Medical Center and director of the Primary Care Institute at Highland Hospital. While the workshop is free, preregistration is necessary, as space is limited. For more information or to register, call Elaine Gebell at 274-1609.

The workshop is sponsored by the Allied Health Geriatric Interdisciplinary Team Training Project, an outreach program of the Ithaca College Gerontology Institute. It will examine the humanist qualities of certified internists, focusing on the doctor-patient medical encounter and the objectives and skills involved in it. Frankel was the 1999–2000 recipient of the Physician-Patient Research Award, given by the American Academy on Physician and Patient for his research in the field of doctor-patient communication. He has been exploring the "bad news delivery": how doctors do it, its history, and its implications. His research includes the relationship between communication and medical malpractice, empathy as a core clinical skill, and complementary and alternative medicine.

Frankel earned his Ph.D. in sociology at the Graduate School and University Center of the City University of New York. He held a postdoctoral fellowship in mental health research at Boston University and has been a visiting professor at institutions in the Netherlands, Great Britain, Canada, Finland, and Norway.