Course Offerings

Children’s Hospital Boston Initiatives:

Complex Neonatal Care and Neurosurgery
Critical Care
Difficult Conversations for Residents
Parent Presence

Local and Regional Initiatives:

Difficult Prenatal Conversations
Coaching for Disclosure after Adverse Events (in association with CRICO/RMF)
Donation after Cardiac Death
Informed Consent for Anesthesia
Neonatal Intensive Care
Neurology
Pediatric Primary Care (in association with Children’s Emotional HealthLink)
Special Care & Newborn Nurseries

National / International Initiatives:

Difficult Conversations in Healthcare: Pedagogy and Practice (in association with the Harvard Macy Institute)

Children’s Hospital Boston Initiatives

COMPLEX NEONATAL CARE & NEUROSURGERY
Title	Program to Enhance Relational & Communication Skills: Difficult Conversations in Complex Neonatal Care & Neurosurgery
Description	This course was inspired and designed based on the needs for improved interdisciplinary and inter-subspecialty communication identified by the family of Paul Contini, a former patient at Children’s Hospital Boston. Each day-long workshop brings together interdisciplinary professionals across experience levels to engage in a day of learning that focuses on the unique communication and relational skills needs of young neurologically complex patients and their families. Each workshop offers didactic presentations, realistic enactments with professional actors, videotape feedback and debriefing, and group discussion. Each workshop emphasizes the importance of the patient and family perspectives through the use of videotaped family interviews and actors as patient and parent ethical understudies. Participants are encouraged to reflect on their personal and professional experience, and how that can influence their approach to difficult conversations with patients and families.
Course Director	Elaine C. Meyer, PhD, RN at elaine.meyer@childrens.harvard.edu
Participants/ Size	Interdisciplinary participants working in the fields of neonatology, neurology, neurosurgery, and anesthesiology at any level of experience are welcome to enroll including but not limited to: Physicians Nurses Social workers Psychologists Chaplains Medical Interpreters Workshop enrollment size: 15-25 participants
Format/ Time	Day-long workshop from 9:00am-3:00pm Syllabus, handouts, and teaching resources will be provided
Faculty	Workshops are facilitated by Institute Leadership and Faculty Associates
Cost	Workshops are complimentary for Children’s Hospital Boston employees. Made possible by the generous support of the Paul G. Contini Palliative Education Fund and the Departments of Neurology and Neurosurgery at CHB.
Continuing Education Credit per Workshop	No continuing education credits are currently available for this course
Upcoming Workshops	No dates are currently scheduled. Please check back soon for dates for the 2010-2011 academic year!
Registration	Please register on-line here.

CRITICAL CARE
Title	Program to Enhance Relational & Communication Skills (PERCS): Difficult Conversations in Pediatric & Cardiovascular Critical Care
Description	PERCS: Critical Care is the original course developed by the Institute. Each day-long workshop offers interdisciplinary participants the opportunity to learn about helpful communication skills and relational abilities when having difficult conversations in the pediatric and cardiovascular critical care units. Each workshop offers didactic presentations, realistic enactments with professional actors, videotape feedback and debriefing, and group discussion. Each workshop emphasizes the importance of the patient and family perspectives through the use of videotaped family interviews and actors as patient and parent ethical understudies. Participants are encouraged to reflect on their personal and professional experience, and how that can influence their approach to difficult conversations with patients and families. *This course is offered based on a three-year rotating curriculum that includes versions of workshops focusing on: (1) Pediatric End of Life; (2) Children with Special Healthcare Needs; and (3) Communicating about Adverse Events Within a Culture of Safety.
Course Director	Robert J. Graham, MD at robert.graham@childrens.harvard.edu
Participants/ Size	Interdisciplinary participants working in the fields of pediatric and cardiovascular critical care at any level of experience are welcome to enroll including but not limited to: Physicians Nurses Social workers Psychologists Chaplains Medical Interpreters Administrators Workshop enrollment size: 15-25 participants
Format / Time	Day-long workshop from 8:30am-3:30pm Syllabus, handouts, and teaching resources will be provided
Faculty	Workshops are facilitated by Institute Leadership and Faculty Associates
Cost	Workshops are complimentary for Children’s Hospital Boston employees. Made possible by the generous support of the Division of Critical Care Medicine at CHB. Cost for others to be funded by participant’s institution or self-pay at $495/person.
Continuing Education Credit per Workshop	6 hours of AMA PRA Category 1 Credits for physicians 6 hours of MARN credits for nurses
Upcoming Workshops	Thursday, October 14, 2010 Thursday, December 16, 2010 Tuesday, March 1, 2011 Tuesday, April 5, 2011
Registration	Please register on-line here.

DIFFICULT CONVERSATIONS FOR RESIDENTS
Title	Difficult Conversations for Residents
Description	This course offers residents the opportunity to learn about helpful communication skills and relational abilities when having difficult conversations with patients and families. Each workshop offers didactic presentations, realistic enactments with professional actors, videotape feedback and debriefing, and group discussion. Each workshop emphasizes the importance of the patient and family perspectives through the use of videotaped family interviews and actors as patient and parent ethical understudies. Participants are encouraged to reflect on their personal and professional experience, and how that can influence their approach to difficult conversations with patients and families.
Course Co- Directors	Director: Elizabeth A. Rider, MSW, MD at elizabeth.rider@childrens.harvard.edu Co-Director: Robert D. Truog, MD at robert.truog@childrens.harvard.edu
Participants/ Size	Residents in the Boston Combined Residency Program in Pediatrics at Children’s Hospital Boston Workshop enrollment size: TBA
Format / Time	TBA Syllabus, handouts, and teaching resources will be provided
Faculty	Workshops are facilitated by Institute Leadership and Faculty Associates
Cost	TBA
Continuing Education Credit per Workshop	No continuing education credits are currently available for this course
Upcoming Workshops	No dates are currently scheduled.
Registration	TBA
Additional Information	This course is the main component of the Difficult Conversations for Residents Program, which includes additional learning opportunities.

PARENT PRESENCE
Title	Program to Enhance Relational & Communication Skills (PERCS): Parent Presence during Invasive Procedures and Resuscitation
Description	This interdisciplinary course is designed for staff members who are likely to serve in the role of parent liaison during invasive procedures and resuscitation. Participants will learn about the patient, clinician, and family perspectives relative to parent presence, as well as the range of typical parental responses and associated strategies to provide information and emotional support that can be used to assist parental coping. Each workshop offers didactic presentation, review of the hospital guidelines on the role of the parent liaison, opportunities for sharing successful strategies and previous professional experiences, realistic enactments with professional actors, videotape feedback and debriefing, and group discussion. Participants are encouraged to reflect on their personal and professional experience, and how that can influence their approach to best supporting parents.
Course Director	Elaine C. Meyer, PhD, RN at elaine.meyer@childrens.harvard.edu
Participants/ Size	Interdisciplinary participants who are likely to serve in the capacity of parent liaison during invasive procedures and resuscitation are welcome to enroll including but not limited to: Nurses Physicians Social workers Psychologists Chaplains Child Life Specialists Medical Interpreters Workshop enrollment size: 10-12 participants
Format / Time	Half-day workshop from 8:30am-12:00pm Syllabus, handouts, and teaching resources will be provided
Faculty	Workshops are facilitated by Institute Leadership and Faculty Associates
Cost	Workshops are complimentary for Children’s Hospital Boston employees. Made possible by the generous support of Cardiovascular and Critical Care Services at CHB.
Continuing Education Credit per Workshop	3.4 Course Director hours of continuing education credit for nurses
Upcoming Workshops	Thursday, October 21, 2010 *The registration for nurses for the October 21st workshop is now CLOSED because it is fully enrolled. Please note that the registration for physicians, respiratory therapists, medical interpreters and psychosocial staff is still open. Thursday, February 3, 2011 Thursday, May 26, 2011
Registration	Please register on-line here.

Local and Regional Initiatives

Difficult Prenatal Conversations
Title	Program to Enhance Relational & Communication Skills (PERCS): Difficult Prenatal Conversations
Description	The diagnosis and treatment of pregnancies complicated by congenital fetal disorders involve a range of management alternatives – and shades of clinical uncertainty – that create a profoundly challenging decision-making arena for both physicians and prospective parents, who may face considerable time-related and psychosocial pressures. Adding to this complexity, the management of high-risk pregnancies now involves many pediatric specialists alongside obstetricians. These clinicians bring different backgrounds, experiences, and value assumptions to their interactions with the pregnant patients.
Course Director	Stephen Brown, MD at stephen.brown@childrens.harvard.edu
Participants/ Size	This project will produce a DVD that will serve as a springboard for discussion and the education of those who provide counseling to these patients. The film will include conversations between experienced clinicians and trained actors, as well as debriefings of these conversations with these clinicians and other participants who work with this population of patients. The DVD will be used in a range of educational settings to train prenatal healthcare providers to communicate effectively with patients and colleagues in these circumstances, to encourage greater appreciation of differences in approaches, to identify areas of convergence and consensus, and to optimize negotiation where consensus cannot be achieved.
Format/ Time	TBA
Faculty	Workshops are facilitated by Institute Leadership and Faculty Associates
Cost	TBA
Continuing Education Credit per Workshop	No continuing education credits are currently available for this course
Upcoming Workshops	No dates are currently scheduled.
Registration	Please contact IPEP for further information.

COACHING FOR DISCLOSURE AFTER ADVERSE EVENTS (in association with CRICO/RMF)
Title	Coaching for Disclosure after Adverse Events
Description	This course was designed in partnership with CRICO-RMF, the malpractice insurer for Harvard healthcare organizations. Its primary goal is to help organizations develop systems to assure the availability of a cohort of coaches who can provide just-in-time training and support to clinicians on a 24x7 basis, in the aftermath of significant adverse events and medical errors.
Course Co-Directors	Robert D. Truog, MD at robert.truog@childrens.harvard.edu David M. Browning, MSW, BCD, FT at dbrowning@edc.org
Participants/ Size	Interdisciplinary participants who are likely to serve as coaches in the aftermath of adverse events and medical errors, including but not limited to: Nurses Physicians Social workers Psychologists Chaplains
Format / Time	Half-day workshop in morning or afternoon format Syllabus, handouts, and teaching resources will be provided
Faculty	Workshops are facilitated by Institute Leadership and Faculty Associates
Cost	Workshops are complimentary for participants. Made possible by the generous support of CRICO-RMF.
Continuing Education Credit per Workshop	No continuing education credits are currently available for this course
Upcoming Workshops	No dates are currently scheduled.
Registration	Registration occurs within participating healthcare organizations. Please contact IPEP for further information.

DONATION AFTER CARDIAC DEATH
Title	Difficult Conversations in Healthcare: Donation after Cardiac Death
Description	Conversations with families about organ donation are always difficult, in that they almost always involve asking families to think about helping others in the immediate aftermath of a profound loss to themselves. While organ donation after brain death has been practiced for several decades, organ donation after cardiac death has more recently emerged as a way to meet the need for transplantable organs. Discussions with families about DCD are particularly challenging because this pathway to organ donation involves altering the end-of-life care of the patient in order to maximize the potential for organ donation. Most notably, under DCD protocols life support is withdrawn in the operating room and the family must be separated from their loved one within moments of the onset of asystole. The goal of these conversations is to inform families of the benefits and potential costs of organ donation and then to help them make the choice that is right for the patient and for them.
Course Director	Robert D. Truog, MD at robert.truog@childrens.harvard.edu
Participants/ Size	Although DCD is anticipated to be a relatively rare event at Children’s Hospital Boston (2-4 cases per year), it is a high-stakes process for everyone involved and needs to be organized with meticulous attention to detail. We anticipate offering this program as a “live” event (using actors, enactments, and debriefings) once a year, and then we plan to develop a DVD of the training that will be available for use on a “just-in-time” basis.
Format / Time	Length of the workshop is TBA Syllabus, handouts, and teaching resources will be provided
Faculty	Workshops are facilitated by Institute Leadership and Faculty Associates
Cost	Workshops are complimentary for participants affiliated with Children’s Hospital Boston and the New England Organ Bank. Made possible by the generous support of Children’s Hospital Boston. Cost for others to be funded by participant’s institution or self-pay at $495/person.
Continuing Education Credit per Workshop	No continuing education credits are currently available for this course
Upcoming Workshops	No dates are currently scheduled.
Registration	Please contact IPEP for further information.

INFORMED CONSENT FOR ANESTHESIA
Title	Program to Enhance Relational & Communication Skills (PERCS): Informed Consent for Anesthesia
Description	This course for anesthesiologists offers participants the opportunity to learn about helpful communication skills and relational abilities when having informed consent discussions in anesthesia. Each workshop offers didactic presentations, realistic enactments with professional actors, videotape feedback and debriefing, and group discussion. Participants are encouraged to reflect on their personal and professional experience, and how that can influence their approach to informed consent discussions with patients and their families.
Course Director	David B. Waisel, MD at david.waisel@childrens.harvard.edu
Participants/ Size	Anesthesiology residents, fellows and attendings at any level of experience are welcome to enroll. Workshop enrollment size: 8-10 participants
Format / Time	Late afternoon workshop from 3:00pm-6:15pm Syllabus, handouts, and teaching resources will be provided
Faculty	Workshops are facilitated by Institute Leadership and Faculty Associates
Cost	Course complimentary for Children’s Hospital Boston employees. Made possible by the generous support of the Department of Anesthesia at CHB. Cost for others to be funded by participant’s institution or self-pay at $400/person.
Continuing Education Credit per Workshop	No continuing education credits are currently available for this course
Upcoming Workshops	No dates are currently scheduled. Please check back soon for dates for the 2010-2011 academic year!
Registration	Please contact IPEP for further information.

NEONATAL INTENSIVE CARE
Title	Program to Enhance Relational & Communication Skills (PERCS): Difficult Conversations in Neonatal Intensive Care
Description	This course offers interdisciplinary participants the opportunity to learn about helpful communication skills and relational abilities when having difficult conversations in the neonatal intensive care setting. Each day-long workshop offers didactic presentations, realistic enactments with professional actors, videotape feedback and debriefing, and group discussion. Each workshop emphasizes the importance of the patient and family perspectives through the use of videotaped family interviews and actors as patient and parent ethical understudies. Participants are encouraged to reflect on their personal and professional experience, and how that can influence their approach to difficult conversations with patients and families.
Course Co-Directors	Anne Hansen, MD, MPH at anne.hansen@childrens.harvard.edu Dara Brodsky, MD at dbrodsky@bidmc.harvard.edu
Participants/ Size	Interdisciplinary participants who work in the neonatal intensive care setting at any level of experience are welcome to enroll including but not limited to: Physicians Nurses Social workers Psychologists Chaplains Medical Interpreters Administrators Workshop enrollment size: 15-25 participants
Format / Time	Day-long workshop from 8:30am-3:00pm Syllabus, handouts, and teaching resources will be provided
Faculty	Workshops are facilitated by Institute Leadership and Faculty Associates
Cost	Workshops are complimentary for employees of Children’s Hospital Boston and affiliated Harvard teaching hospitals. Made possible by the generous support of the Division of Newborn Medicine at CHB. Cost for others to be funded by participant’s institution or self-pay at $495/person.
Continuing Education Credit per Workshop	5.75 hours of AMA PRA Category 1 Credits for physicians 5.75 hours of MARN credits for nurses
Upcoming Workshops	Thursday, November 4, 2010 Thursday, June 2, 2011
Registration	Please register on-line here.

NEUROLOGY
Title	Difficult Conversations in Healthcare: Improving Ethical, Relational and Communication Skills for Neurology Residents
Description	TBA
Course Director	Thos Cochrane, MD at TCOCHRANE@PARTNERS.ORG
Participants/ Size	Resident physicians specializing in neurology. Size: approximately 8-10 participants per workshop
Format / Time	Day-long workshop from 9:00am-4:00pm Syllabus, handouts, and teaching resources will be provided
Faculty	Workshops are facilitated by Institute Leadership and Faculty Associates as well as Brigham & Women’s Hospital Faculty
Cost	TBA
Continuing Education Credit per Workshop	No continuing education credits are currently available for this course
Upcoming Workshops	No dates are currently scheduled.
Registration	Please contact IPEP for further information.

PEDIATRIC PRIMARY CARE (in association with Children’s Emotional HealthLink)
Title	Difficult Conversations in Primary Care Pediatrics: Depression in the Family
Description	This course is one component of the Children’s Emotional HealthLink (CEHL) program, Emotional and Psychosocial Issues in Children and Families: Pediatrics for the New Millennium, for primary care pediatricians and pediatric nurse practitioners. The PERCS (Program to Enhance Relational and Communication Skills) model of high fidelity simulation (with actors), collaborative learning, and reflection and feedback is utilized. Course objectives include enhancement of pediatric practitioners’ relational capacities and communication skills, and the ability to evaluate and manage emotional and psychosocial problems seen in pediatric practice with children, adolescents, families. Each workshop emphasizes the importance of the patient and family perspectives through the use of videotaped family interviews and actors as patient and parent ethical understudies. Participants are encouraged to reflect on their personal and professional experience, and how that can influence their approach to difficult conversations with patients and families.
Course Director	Elizabeth A. Rider, MSW, MD at elizabeth.rider@childrens.harvard.edu
Participants/ Size	Primary care pediatricians and pediatric nurse practitioners participating in the CEHL year-long programs are welcome to enroll. Workshop enrollment size: 12-16 participants
Format / Time	Day-long workshop from 9:00am-3:00pm Syllabus, handouts, and teaching resources will be provided
Faculty	Workshops are facilitated by Institute Leadership and Faculty Associates as well as CEHL Faculty
Cost	No cost to participants. Generously funded by CEHL for 2007-2009. Future Goal: to provide this course for all primary care pediatric practitioners.
Continuing Education Credit per Workshop	Participants receive CME credits. 5 AMA Category 1 Risk Management Credits applied for.
Upcoming Workshops	No dates are currently scheduled.
Registration	Please contact IPEP for further information.
Additional Information	This course is included in the intervention arm of a randomized trial.

SPECIAL CARE & NEWBORN NURSERIES
Title	Program to Enhance Relational & Communication Skills (PERCS): Difficult Conversations in Special Care and Newborn Nurseries
Description	This course offers interdisciplinary participants the opportunity to learn about helpful communication skills and relational abilities when having difficult conversations in the special care and newborn nursery settings. Each workshop offers didactic presentations, realistic enactments with professional actors, videotape feedback and debriefing, and group discussion. Each workshop emphasizes the importance of the patient and family perspectives through the use of videotaped family interviews and actors as patient and parent ethical understudies. Participants are encouraged to reflect on their personal and professional experience, and how that can influence their approach to difficult conversations with patients and families.
Course Director	Dara Brodsky, MD at dbrodsky@bidmc.harvard.edu
Participants/ Size	Interdisciplinary participants who work in special care and newborn nursery settings at any level of experience are welcome to enroll including but not limited to: Physicians Nurses Social workers Psychologists Chaplains Medical Interpreters Administrators Workshop enrollment size: 10-15 participants
Format / Time	Day-long workshop from 8:30am-3:15pm Syllabus, handouts, and teaching resources will be provided
Faculty	Workshops are facilitated by Institute Leadership and Faculty Associates
Cost	Cost for all participants to be funded by participant’s institution or self-pay at $75/person. Made possible by the generous support of the Kenneth B. Schwartz Center.
Continuing Education Credit per Workshop	6.25 hours of MARN credits for nurses
Upcoming Workshops	No dates are currently scheduled.
Registration	Please contact IPEP for further information.

National / International Initiatives

DIFFICULT CONVERSATIONS IN HEALTHCARE: - PEDAGOGY AND PRACTICE
Title	Difficult Conversations in Healthcare: Pedagogy and Practice
Description	This day-long faculty development course offers the opportunity to learn about an innovative pedagogy for enhancing relational capacities and communication skills in physicians, social workers, nurses, and other health care professionals at all levels of professional development. The PERCS (Program to Enhance Relational and Communication Skills) model of high fidelity simulation (with actors), collaborative learning, and reflection and feedback is utilized. Discussion and consideration of how participants might usefully integrate the pedagogy into educational endeavors in their home institutions is a primary focus of this course. Each workshop provides teaching and learning strategies for the interpersonal and communication skills and professionalism competencies required by many regulatory organizations including the ACGME and LCME. The course is also a Pre-Course for the Harvard Macy Institute’s Program for Educators in the Health Professions.
Course Director	Elizabeth A. Rider, MSW, MD at elizabeth.rider@childrens.harvard.edu
Participants/ Size	Educators in the health professions are welcome to enroll including, but not limited to: Physicians in all specialties Residency Program Directors, Clerkship Directors, Medical School Deans, Department Chairs Medical Education Leaders, Medical Educators Social Workers, Psychologists, Advanced Practice Nurses Multidisciplinary Healthcare Professionals and others involved in teaching and/or developing programs in the areas of interpersonal and communication skills, professionalism, relationship-centered care, patient-practitioner relationships and related topics Harvard-Macy Program Scholars and Faculty Workshop enrollment size: 20 participants
Format / Time	Saturday workshop from 10:00am-4:30pm Syllabus, handouts, and teaching resources will be provided
Faculty	Workshops are facilitated by Institute Leadership and Faculty Associates
Cost	Self-pay or funded by participant’s institution: $495 for physicians; $425 for allied health professionals and non-physician medical educators
Continuing Education Credit per Workshop	6 hours of AMA PRA Category 1 Credits for physicians This program has been approved for 6 Continuing Education hours for relicensure, in accordance with 258 CMR 31.00. Collaborative of NASW-MA and the Boston College and Simmons College Schools of Social Work.
Upcoming Workshops	No dates are currently scheduled. Please check back soon for the 2011 course dates.
Registration	View the Course Brochure! Please contact IPEP for further information.