Scott Alexander discusses a study suggesting communication skills training for doctors may be ineffective, and shares personal observations on the nuances of doctor-patient communication. Longer summary

Scott Alexander discusses a study from the Journal of the American Medical Association that suggests intensive communication skills training for doctors may not improve patient outcomes and could even have negative effects. He relates this to his own experiences in medical training, sharing an anecdote about an attending physician with excellent communication skills who used an unconventional approach when delivering a cancer diagnosis. The post critiques the effectiveness of formal communication skills training in medicine and suggests that some aspects of effective doctor-patient communication may be difficult or impossible to teach. Shorter summary