Communication Training
- Lead With Compassion
- Compassionate Communication Webinar Series
- Online Learning Modules
- UC San Diego Training
Communication shapes every interaction in healthcare. Build the skills to make each one count.
Hosted by UC San Diego's Center for Compassionate Communication, the Compassionate Communication Virtual Workshop Series is a free, skills-based program, specially designed for healthcare professionals, medical educators, and researchers. Through interactive sessions, participants learn how to communicate with greater compassion with patients, health care teams, medical trainees, and beyond.
Fall 2026 Workshops:
Empathy Doesn't Arrive — It Unfolds: How Storytelling and Story Listening Transform Clinical Presence
📅 Tuesday, September 15, from 8 - 9 a.m. (PST)
We tend to think of empathy and compassion as traits we either have or don't. But research tells a different story. Empathy unfolds. It deepens layer by layer as we encounter, sit with, and genuinely engage a human story. Which means that every time we interrupt, assume, or finish someone's story, we don't just miss information—we short-circuit the empathy process itself.
This session draws on original research into empathy decline in healthcare and the conditions that reverse it. Using complexity theory as a lens, participants will explore why empathy erosion is a wicked problem that resists single solutions, and why storytelling, story listening, and intentional reflection and structured debrief protocols are among the most powerful micro-interventions available. Grounded in both science and practice, the session uses story as both subject and method.
Participants will leave with:
- A new mental model: empathy as a dynamic process grounded in story
- A practical, repeatable storytelling, listening, and reflection protocol for clinical settings
- One insight they can apply in their next patient encounter
Meet the Presenter: Maria Keckler, PhD
Maria Keckler, PhD, is an empathy researcher, storyteller, and Co-founder and CEO of Pivotal Empathy, Inc., a healthcare startup translating patient stories into evidence-based micro-interventions that improve clinical empathy and patient outcomes. Her doctoral research introduced the concept of Empathy Unfolding, a framework for understanding how empathy deepens through sustained narrative engagement. Her community fieldwork has taken her into Afghan, Mexican, Vietnamese, Haitian, and Pakistani communities to surface the trust dynamics that break or shape clinical care. She is Affiliate Faculty at the UCSD Sanford Institute for Empathy and Compassion in Healthcare and co-founder of the SDSU EmpathyRx Lab. A graduate of the Sanford Compassionate Communication Fellowship and author of Bridge Builders, recognized by Inc. Magazine as one of 60 great business books written by women, Maria brings more than two decades of research, teaching, industry consulting, and storytelling practice to every room she enters.
Narrative Humility: Listening Beyond Assumptions
📅 Wednesday, October 7, from 8 - 9 a.m. (PST)
Every person we meet carries a story—but no matter how much we know, we can never fully know another person's experience. Narrative Humility is a practice of approaching others with curiosity rather than certainty. In this interactive webinar, participants will explore how stories shape perception, decision-making, and relationships while learning practical tools for reducing assumptions, navigating uncertainty, and building stronger human connection.
Meet the Presenter: Chase Crossno, MPH
Chase Crossno, MPH is Assistant Director of Training & Interventions at the Institute of Behavioral Research, where she leads the Center for Translation to Practice. She helps organizations translate evidence into practice through training, curriculum design, and workforce development. A nationally recognized trainer and facilitator, Chase's work focuses on narrative humility, moral resilience, communication, and behavior change across healthcare, public health, behavioral health, and criminal justice settings.
Compassionate Conversations, Positive Cultures: A Collaborative Approach to Professionalism and Civility in Medicine
📅 Monday, November 16, from 11 a.m. - 12 p.m. (PST)
Unprofessional and uncivil behaviors can quietly erode trust, psychological safety, and collaboration across healthcare organizations. While traditional mechanisms such as peer review and human resources processes play an important role, they are not always designed to address the nuanced, recurring concerns that influence culture over time. This session will highlight the University of Kentucky College of Medicine’s Professionalism and Civility Panel (ProCP), a collaborative partnership among faculty affairs, organizational well-being, and human resources that uses compassionate communication to support learning, accountability, and organizational improvement. Attendees will learn how a coordinated, relationship-centered approach to professionalism can strengthen trust, foster positive workplace cultures, and create opportunities for lasting culture change.
Meet the Presenter: Lisa Williams
Lisa Williams is an advocate for well-being who guides organizations through transformative processes to address systemic causes of burnout and improve professional fulfillment. Recognizing the interconnectedness of individual well-being, team dynamics, and organizational culture, Lisa employs a holistic and comprehensive approach to foster positive change. Currently, Lisa serves as Associate Dean for Well-Being at the University of Kentucky College of Medicine and leads the Office for Organizational Well-Being. Before taking on her role as Associate Dean, Lisa was an adjunct assistant professor at the UK College of Health Sciences and the Emotional Intelligence Advisor to the college's Physician Assistant Department. Additionally, Lisa has worked as an ICF-certified leadership coach and organizational consultant, co-founded the High Impact Leadership Project, served as an adjunct professor at the UK College of Social Work, and been an executive leader for various organizations, including the former University of Kentucky Institute for Workplace Innovation. Lisa holds a Master of Science in Social Administration degree from Case Western Reserve University.
Meet the Co-Presenter: Dr. Nicole McCoin
Dr. Nicole McCoin is a Professor of Emergency Medicine and the Vice Dean for Faculty Affairs and Development at the University of Kentucky College of Medicine, where she holds the Schwartz Commonwealth Professorship in Physician Leadership.
An Alpha Omega Alpha graduate of Vanderbilt University School of Medicine, Dr. McCoin completed both her residency and chief residency in Emergency Medicine at Vanderbilt, where she remained on faculty for many years. During her tenure, she served in multiple leadership roles, including Course Director in the School of Medicine, Faculty Senator, and Vice Chair for Education and Residency Program Director in the Department of Emergency Medicine.
She later served as Chair of the Department of Emergency Medicine at Ochsner Medical Center in New Orleans, Louisiana. A 2019–2020 Fellow in the Executive Leadership in Academic Medicine (ELAM) program, Dr. McCoin has been recognized for her leadership and teaching excellence with several honors, including being named a 2020 Nashville Woman to Watch, the 2021 Ochsner Health System Physician Academic Contributor of the Year, and recipient of the 2023 American College of Emergency Physicians National Emergency Medicine Faculty Teaching Award.
Dr. McCoin joined the University of Kentucky in April 2024. As Vice Dean, she leads faculty affairs and development across the College of Medicine, serving over 1,500 faculty members, more than 2,000 learners, and four regional medical campuses. She is widely recognized for her commitment to education, faculty development, leadership in academic medicine, and e=orts to build supportive, high-performing institutional cultures.
Explore Our On-Demand Webinar Library
Access expert-led webinars anytime. Browse our growing collection of recordings covering empathy, compassion, clinician well-being, medical education, research, and more -- available whenever it fits your schedule.