• Skip to primary navigation
  • Skip to main content
  • Skip to primary sidebar
  • Skip to footer
  • Facebook
  • Instagram
  • LinkedIn
  • Twitter

Physician Improv Training – Active Listening

SurgeonMasters

SurgeonMasters

  • Hire a Coach
  • Become a Coach
  • Resources
  • Connect
  • Events
  • Login

Improv Skills Physicians Can Use to Improve Their Practices

04/18/2022 jeffsmithmd

Physicians are trained to find answers and draft a plan of action. We lead our patients and our teams in pursuit of the best care possible. on the fly when life, illness and injuries throw us a twist. How do we respond when things don’t go according to plan? When things go off script, how do we coordinate and communicate this change of plans? We often need to look beyond our traditional medical training to find skills that can benefit us professionally. Improv teaches many skills that can help us adapt and succeed when things don’t go as planned.

Four Improv Skills Physicians Can Benefit From

The world of improv has a lot to offer practicing physicians. Here are a few improv skills that can benefit physicians in a professional setting:

  • Active Listening – Active listening is the art of being fully engaged with another person. When you are actively listening, you absorb what’s being said verbally and non-verbally and provide appropriate responses that continue a dialogue. Active listening is essential when communicating with patients, as well as colleagues and co-workers.
  • Agility – Agility is when we stop planning how a conversation is going to go, and instead listen and respond. In medicine, we don’t seem to know which part of the system will fail. It’s important for physicians to be agile in their day-to-day practices, whether that’s during a surgical procedure or simply talking with a patient.
  • Brainstorming – Free association, making connections, building on your team’s ideas, and eliminating mental blocks are all critical brainstorming skills from the world of improv that physicians can utilize to improve their teamwork and team building.
  • Storytelling – Great storytelling requires focusing on the audience to craft a message for the listener, rather than for our own goals as the speaker. Being entertaining, memorable, and even informative doesn’t hurt either.

These are just a handful of the many skills taught by improv that physicians can use in their own practices. Practicing these skills and integrating them into our daily routines can help us on our journey to becoming more adaptive, agile physicians.

How can you incorporate these improv skills into your practice?

Category iconBlog,  Communication,  Jeff Smith,  Performance Improvement Tag iconActive Listening,  Agility,  Brainstorming,  Improv,  Physician Improv,  Storytelling

Primary Sidebar

Resource Categories

Select Category
category
628e61a5c4a43
1
0
174,164,29,264,154,153,157
Loading....

Subscribe for Latest Updates

  • Facebook
  • Instagram
  • LinkedIn
  • Twitter

Latest Updates

  • Improv Skills Physicians Can Use to Improve Their Practices
  • Jeff Letter April 2022
  • Jeffrey M. Smith, MD to speak at AAOS 2022
  • What Do You Want? How Will You Get It?
  • Jeffrey M. Smith, MD to speak at SAGES 2022

From the Podcast

  • Routine Capture! – Life improvement strategies for the surgeon who wants more … in 10 minutes – Episode 93
  • Team Debrief! – Life improvement strategies for the surgeon who wants more … in 10 minutes – Episode 92
  • Environmental Culture! – The SurgeonMasters Podcast
  • Admitting Mistakes! – Life improvement strategies for the surgeon who wants more … in 10 minutes – Episode 91
  • Supporting Second Victims! – Life improvement strategies for the surgeon who wants more … in 10 minutes – Episode 90

Join hundreds of your peers

Subscribe to our newsletter to receive our latest updates on events, resources, and networking opportunities with colleagues, fellows, and residents.

Subscribe

Footer

Who We Are

SurgeonMasters is a Surgeon Peer Community dedicated to improving the personal and professional well-being of physicians.

Learn more.

Sitemap

  • Home
  • About
  • Hire a Coach
  • Coach Training
  • Resources
  • Physician Peer Support Hotline
  • Connect
  • This Is Physician Wellness
  • Partner

Search Our Resources

  • Facebook
  • Instagram
  • LinkedIn
  • Twitter

Copyright © 2022 SurgeonMasters. Website by Oil Can Marketing

Report Content

Block Member?

Please confirm you want to block this member.

You will no longer be able to:

  • See blocked member's posts
  • Mention this member in posts
  • Invite this member to groups
  • Message this member
  • Add this member as a connection

Please note: This action will also remove this member from your connections and send a report to the site admin. Please allow a few minutes for this process to complete.

Clear Clear All