Improv(e) Your Clinical and Team Communication Skills with Improv

Saturday, April 26, 2025

1:00pm – 2:30pm HST

Location: Convention Center: 305

CE: 1.5

Leader(s)

Sahar Rooholamini, MD, MPH (she/her/hers)

Associate Professor of Pediatrics; Assistant Dean, Faculty Recruitment and Retention
Pediatrics
University of Washington and Seattle Children's Hospital
Seattle, Washington, United States

Co-Leader(s)

Sahar Rooholamini, MD, MPH (she/her/hers)

Associate Professor of Pediatrics; Assistant Dean, Faculty Recruitment and Retention
Pediatrics
University of Washington and Seattle Children's Hospital
Seattle, Washington, United States
Sarah Gustafson, MD (she/her/hers)

Associate Professor of Pediatrics
UCLA David Geffen School of Medicine
Los Angeles, California, United States
Jessica Jones, MD (she/her/hers)

Pediatric Hospital Medicine Fellow
University of Washington, Washington, United States
David Mahoney, MD (he/him/his)

Pediatric Hospital Medicine Fellow
Seattle Children's
Seattle, Washington, United States
Nicola Orlov, MD MPH

Associate Professor of Pediatrics
University of Chicago Pritzker School of Medicine
Chicago, Illinois, United States
AS

Amit Singh, MD (he/him/his)

Pediatric Hospitalist Attending/Associate Professor of Pediatrics
Cook Children's Medical Center/Anne Burnett Marion School of Medicine at Texas Christian University, United States
Rachel Welch, MD (she/her/hers)

Pediatric Hospital Medicine Fellow
University of Washington School of Medicine/Seattle Children's Hospital
Seattle, Washington, United States
Florence Lambert-Fliszar, MD (she/her/hers)

Pediatric Hospital Medicine Fellow
University of Washington
Seattle, Washington, United States
Alaina Shine, MD (she/her/hers)

Assistant Professor
Seattle Children's
Seattle, Washington, United States
Scott Moerdler, MD (he/him/his)

Associate Professor of Pediatric Hematology Oncology
Rutgers Cancer Institute, New Jersey, United States
SR

Shawn Ralston, MD,MA,MS

Professor
University of Washington School of Medicine
Seattle, Washington, United States

Disclosure(s):

Sahar N. Rooholamini, MD, MPH: I do not have any relevant financial / non-financial relationships with any proprietary interests.

Sarah Gustafson, MD: I do not have any relevant financial / non-financial relationships with any proprietary interests.

Jessica Jones, MD: I do not have any relevant financial / non-financial relationships with any proprietary interests.

David Mahoney, MD: I do not have any relevant financial / non-financial relationships with any proprietary interests.

Nicola Orlov, MD MPH: I do not have any relevant financial / non-financial relationships with any proprietary interests.

Amit Singh, MD: I do not have any relevant financial / non-financial relationships with any proprietary interests.

Rachel J. Welch, MD: I do not have any relevant financial / non-financial relationships with any proprietary interests.

Florence Lambert-Fliszar, MD: I do not have any relevant financial / non-financial relationships with any proprietary interests.

Alaina M. Shine, MD: I do not have any relevant financial / non-financial relationships with any proprietary interests.

Scott Moerdler, MD: I do not have any relevant financial / non-financial relationships with any proprietary interests.

Shawn Ralston, MD,MA,MS: I do not have any relevant financial / non-financial relationships with any proprietary interests.

Workshop Description: Medical improvisation (improv) has been promoted as a tool to strengthen communication and relational skills necessary for effective clinical teamwork and leadership, including empathy, active listening, collaboration, and authenticity in interpersonal interactions. In this workshop we will provide a brief overview of the literature on medical improv, discuss the rules of improv, and then spend the majority of time engaged in interactive, facilitated exercises with all participants. We will start with an icebreaker and then move into 3 improv exercises in small groups, each followed by a debrief. Each exercise has been selected for its relevance to clinical care and communication skill development and is designed to be done in groups of 8-10 individuals, except for the icebreaker which can be done in larger groups of up to 20 people. Improv exercises will be introduced with a description and a brief nod to their intent; however, most of the teaching points will be made during the debrief and group reflection following each activity. At the conclusion of the workshop, participants will receive concise summaries of the improv exercises and a list of resources to further their knowledge of medical improv and replicate the exercises at their home institutions.

Learning Objectives:

Identify the benefits of medical improv for clinicians and clinical teams
Distinguish the goals and function of different improv exercises to augment verbal and nonverbal communication in clinical scenarios
Apply individual and group learnings from improv exercises to their home clinical setting