December 26, 2025

(Really, Truly) Meeting People Where They Are

49 minutes

This week's topics include:

• the intersection of competence and communication,

• strategies for teaching communication in both med school and residency,

• some skill sets that improve every patient visit,

• the NURSE mnemonic for patient interactions, and

• the importance of (really, truly) meeting patients where they are both physically and emotionally.

Guest Messenger
Dr. Andy Nowalk, Clinical Director of the Division of Infectious Diseases at UPMC Children's Hospital of Pittsburgh and Associate Professor of Pediatrics at the University of Pittsburgh School of Medicine

Chapters
0:00 Intro
1:10 The Robert Klein to Our Johnny Carson
2:59 Communication is a Muscle
3:46 Families Have Trouble Seeing Competence
5:58 Combining My Educator Hat & My Infectious Disease Hat
7:35 Kurt Russell, Used Cars, & Essential Oils
8:51 Several Levels of Benefits
10:50 Residency Program Communication Strategy
13:22 A Clarification About Todd & Clinical Errors
14:15 Interventions That Start You Off on the Right Foot
16:52 Listening for Emotion & Using the NURSE Mnemonic
20:46 Actually Meeting People Where They Are
23:35 You Do This Every Day
25:25 If You Ignore it, the Visit is Over
26:58 I Can Give You a Tool Set That Makes Every Visit Better
28:49 People Don’t Realize How Long Bad Communication Takes
31:37 Building a General Tool Set
33:30 How Do You Get Them to Use Their Stethoscope?
35:35 Like Reaching for the Right Antibiotic
37:44 One of the Things Drove Me Out of Academia
39:40 Introductions & Expectations
41:40 The Death Knell of Most Medical Conversations
42:30 A Little Bit of Teach-Back Goes a Long Way
43:52 The Kitchen Table Test
44:52 Circling Back to Where We Started
47:37 Standing on the Shoulders of Giants