As clinical care providers, we shoulder the stories of many patients. Because we’re usually in a rush, we don’t have the luxury of finding out all the information that we would like to. But no matter the situation, our understanding of the human story will determine a great deal about our communication.

Research shows that when we hear a story, our brain begins to sync with the storyteller. We quickly make connections drawn from our own lives and can fill in other aspects in a story like meaning, emotion, narrative trajectory and so on. As the listener, it’s relatively easy to hear a story and imagine, empathize and even come up with possible solutions to alleviate pain. But not so easy when you are the provider—and part of the story itself. Why is that? Why can we do it from a distance, but it’s so difficult to see when we are one of the people in the story? This course discusses these questions. Join palliative care physician Dr. Kathryn Winters, along with the Sanford Institute’s Center for Compassionate Communication at UC San Diego Health, for this fascinating, personal and instructive lesson on how to better understand the stories involved in clinical care—both provider and patient.