Stanford Neurology Communication Coaching Program

Communication Skills as an Educational Priority

Stanford Neurology residents have identified communication skills as a priority for educational innovation. To meet this goal, the Stanford Neurology Communication Coaching program was launched in 2020. The program pairs each resident with a trained Neurology faculty coach for the duration of residency. To create a shared approach and language, all residents and coaches complete formal communication skills training courses, including the Advancing Communication Excellence at Stanford (ACES) course and the Serious Illness Conversation Guide course.

Coaching to Meet Residents' Goals

Every resident has 5-8 coaching sessions per academic year. Each coaching session involves direct observation of the resident-patient interaction by the coach in an ambulatory or inpatient setting, followed by a debriefing exercise during which the coach facilitates the resident’s self-reflection on his or her communication performance, provides targeted feedback, and guides the resident to identify a communication-related goal to be practiced before the next coaching session. The coaches are intentionally not responsible for evaluating resident performance and are typically not the attending of record. The aim of coaching is to support each resident in reaching his or her individual communication goals.

Coaching Program Support, Leadership, & Partnership

Dr. Carl Gold serves as Director and Dr. Rebecca Miller-Kuhlmann serves as Associate Director. The Stanford Neurology Communication Coaching program is generously supported by a grant from the Stanford Health Care Partners donor fund. The program was formed in partnership with the Stanford Surgery Communication Coaching Program, directed by Dr. Aussama Nassar and Dr. James Korndorffer. These programs are based on the highly successful Stanford Pediatrics Coaching Program, led by Dr. Becky Blankenburg and Dr. Carrie Rassbach. The leaders of the three coaching programs meet monthly as the Coaching Steering Committee.

Shannon Beres, MD
Communication Coach
Clinical Assistant Professor
Neuro-ophthalmology & Child Neurology

“The most fulfilling aspect of the Communication Coaching program has been the opportunity to have a meaningful longitudinal relationship with the residents. We have been able to grow mutual respect and understanding of each other so that there is a safe place to share each our most vulnerable concerns, fears, and areas of improvement in patient care interactions. This allows us to first recognize and talk about the growth that is needed, then implement and monitor how these behaviors change with time. In turn, the patient gains a more empathetic and personal encounter with their provider.”

Current Resident Coachees

Elizabeth Ballinger, MD, PhD

Jacob Loeffler, MD

Trevor Rafferty, MD

Felicia Reinitz, MD, PhD

Sophie Rengarajan, MD, PhD

David Rogawski, MD, PhD

J. Bradley Segal, MD

Isha Srivastava MD, PhD

Rachel Walsh, MD

Gregory J Wong, MD

Lucas Kipp, MD
Communication Coach
Clinical Assistant Professor
Neuroimmunology

"The science of medicine has never advanced more rapidly.  We have faster, more accurate diagnostic tests and safer, more effective treatments for more ailments than ever before.  Yet, the art of medicine remains the same.  Communication Coaching is all about cultivating that interpersonal aspect of the patient-physician encounter and opening the door for an honest exchange of information.  It's been wonderful learning along with my coachees and applying this program in my own practice."

Current Resident Coachees

Jenny Chen, MD, MBA

Tyler Lanman, MD

Bianca Palushaj, MD

Meaghan Roy-O'Reilly, MD, PhD

Nicholas Schwartz, MD, PhD

Diana Slawski, MD

Jacqueline Summers Stromberg, MD

Travis Urban, MD

Connie Wu, MD

William Zhu, MD

Sarah Lee, MD
Communication Coach
Clinical Assistant Professor
Vascular Neurology & Child Neurology

"Working with residents is one of the most important, rewarding and fun parts of my job, so I am thrilled to be able to spend more time with them!  The coaching program has not only provided a unique opportunity for residents to identify areas of communication they’d like to cultivate or improve in a hands-on setting, but has also taught me as an educator how to deliver more concrete and meaningful feedback.  This symbiotic relationship fosters a richer and more meaningful learning environment for everyone—it has been really exciting see how we all grow and evolve over the course of an academic year!"

Current Resident Coachees

Gabrielle Barsh, MD, PhD

Katherine Clifford, MD

David Hartmann, MD, PhD

Mark Keroles, MD

Evan Madill, MD

Esther Nie, MD, PhD

Ria Pal, MD

Ann Robbins, MD, PhD

Brandon Seminatore, MD

Katherine Xiong, MD

Zachary Threlkeld, MD
Communication Coach
Clinical Assistant Professor
Neurocritical Care

“I remember not receiving a lot of feedback on physicianship and patient-doctor communication as a trainee. Although I have since grown to cherish interactions with patients and families as the one of the most privileged and rewarding aspects of being a doctor, there was a time when I found those interactions overwhelming or daunting. I think this program helps dispel some of those fears and opens a space for trainees to discuss and experiment with these interactions in an effort to improve the care they deliver. I wish I had this program when I was in training!”

Current Resident Coachees

Richard Baron, MD

Kirsten Fisher, MD

Phuong Hoang, MD, PhD

Deanne Loube, MD

Kyle Lyman, MD, PhD

Will McKeen, MD

Jessica Ng, MD

Brian Stocksdale, MD

Tara Torabi, MD

Danwei Wu, MD

Faculty Development Workshops

Faculty coaches participated in a half-day orientation presented by the leaders of the Stanford Pediatrics Coaching Program in February 2020. Every month the coaches participate in 90-minute faculty development workshops on topics related to communication skills, coaching, and medical education delivered by experts from Stanford and other top institutions. The workshops bring together coaches from Neurology, Surgery, and Pediatrics.

Date

Workshop Title

Presenter

January 2021

Informed consent

Erin White, MD, MBS & Peter Yoo, MD, FACS

February 2021

Serious Illness Conversation Guide Training

Joshua Fronk, DO & Samantha Wang, MD

March 2021

ManagingTime like a CEO

Carrie Rassbach MD

April 2021

2021 Impact of Coach Role on Coache’s Learning and Engagement

Carrie Rassbach MD Sarah Kate Selling MS2

May 2021

Programmatic updates

 Carl Gold & Rebecca MK

July 2021

Resident onboarding

 

August 2021

Emotional Intelligence

Neil Grunberg PhD Director of Leadership Research and Development & Erin S. Barry, M.S., Research Assistant Professor, Uniformed Services University of the Health Sciences

Sept 2021

Coaching and Teaching Faculty Integration

Coaches, teaching faculty, residency program leadership

Oct 2021

Coaching 101 Workshop 1

Sarah Williams MD Rania Sanford

Nov 2021

Coaching 101 Workshop 2

Sarah Williams MD Rania Sanford

December 2021

Year-end Reflection

 

January 2022

Coaching and Medical Education

Kelley Skeff

Feb 2022

Coaching 101 Workshop 3

Sarah Williams MD Rania Sanford

 

 

Research Collaboration

Outcomes related to implementation of the Stanford Neurology and Surgery Communication Coaching Programs are being studied in collaboration with Dr. Marzena Sasnal and Dr. Arden Morris of the Stanford-Surgery Policy Improvement Research & Education Center (S-SPIRE).

In 2021, a manuscript describing Stanford Neurology's innovative virtual coaching for residents on their teleneurology communication skills was published in BMC Medical Education.

Contacts

Carl Gold, MD, MS
Director, Stanford Neurology Communication Coaching Program

Rebecca Miller-Kuhlmann, MD
Associate Director, Stanford Neurology Communication Coaching Program

For questions about the Stanford Neurology Communication Coaching Program, please contact the Director, Dr. Carl Gold at carlgold@stanford.edu, or the Associate Director, Dr. Rebecca Miller-Kuhlmann at millerrk@stanford.edu.