Two birds with one stone: Training communication specialists while teaching medical students

This study reports the implementation and assessment of one type of training program in medical communication at the University of Illinois in Chicago, involving both the Department of Communication and Theatre at the Circle Campus and the Department of Psychiatry at the Medical Center Campus. The three goals of this experimental program were to strengthen the quality of instruction in interpersonal skills for medical students, to offer a structured experience to graduate students in communication that would help them develop skills as instructors and researchers, and to emphasize the usefulness of communication specialists to faculty and students in the medical school.