Programs and Centers

The Program for Humanistic Communication in Medicine is dedicated to transforming how clinicians at every stage of training learn, practice and refine the communication skills needed to meet patients where they are—as whole people embedded in distinct cultural, social and environmental contexts.

The program addresses a well-documented gap: Despite broad calls from national professional organizations for large-scale, evidence-based communication training, many physicians and trainees have not received the structured preparation and skills practice needed to navigate challenging conversations on topics like shared decision making, goals of care, vaccine hesitancy and medical mistrust.

We are committed to rigorous innovation. Working at the intersection of bioethics, medical education, and technology, we are developing and deploying artificial intelligence-powered, digitally scalable training tools that allow clinicians—including those in rural and underserved communities—to learn and practice patient-centered communication on their own terms and timelines. Our work spans the full continuum of medical training, from undergraduate medical education (UME) to graduate medical education (GME) to continuing education for practicing clinicians and includes the broader health professions workforce. By establishing Pitt's School of Medicine as a national leader in humanistic, person-centered communication, we aim to make expert communication skills a standard of care.

School of Medicine Communication Skills Curriculum Reform

In partnership with the Pitt's School of Medicine, we are comprehensively reviewing and redesigning how communication skills are taught across all four years of medical school. Working through a dedicated faculty task force, we are mapping current curricular content, benchmarking against national best practices and Association of American Medical Colleges competencies and identifying opportunities to innovate. The initiative will produce specific, evidence-informed recommendations on content, sequencing, assessment and faculty development— including how artificial intelligence can be embedded in communication skills training.

Communication Catalyst Platform

The Communication Catalyst is a first-of-its-kind digital education platform—developed with National Institutes of Health support—that enables clinicians across the country to learn, practice and receive expert coaching on patient-centered communication skills. The platform is currently being piloted for critical care clinicians with a goals-of-care curriculum and is being expanded to include specialty-agnostic modules for serious illness communication. We are also developing artificial intelligence-powered virtual patients and coaches for integration into the platform allowing for scalable, accessible practice for clinicians at any stage of practice.

Code Status Exploration Curriculum

This new curriculum, currently in development for the Internal Medicine residency, trains residents in the nuanced and often difficult conversations surrounding code status and resuscitation preferences. The curriculum includes demonstration videos, modular online content delivered through the Communication Catalyst platform, Observed Structured Clinical Exam-based skills assessment, and pre/post surveys to evaluate changes in knowledge and attitudes. After Institutional Review Board approval and review by the Internal Medicine Ambulatory Curriculum Committee, the curriculum will be piloted in the 2026-27 academic year.