As clinical care providers, we shoulder the stories of many patients. Because we鈥檙e usually in a rush, we don鈥檛 have the luxury of finding out all the information that we would like to. But no matter the situation, our understanding of the human story will determine a great deal about our communication. Research shows that when we hear a story, our brain begins to sync with the storyteller. We quickly make connections drawn from our own lives and can fill in other aspects in a story like meaning, emotion, narrative trajectory and so on. As the listener, it鈥檚 relatively easy to hear a story and imagine, empathize and even come up with possible solutions to alleviate pain. But not so easy when you are the provider鈥攁nd part of the story itself. Why is that? Why can we do it from a distance, but it鈥檚 so difficult to see when we are one of the people in the story? This course discusses these questions. Join palliative care physician Dr. Kathryn Winters, along with the Sanford Institute鈥檚 Center for Compassionate Communication at UC San Diego Health, for this fascinating, personal and instructive lesson on how to better understand the stories involved in clinical care鈥攂oth provider and patient.