Comedy in the Classroom

Medical students at U-M are mastering the art of improv to strengthen and improve doctor-patient interactions.

Author | Jenny Blair

Photos by Austin Thomason, Michigan Photography

Caption: Radiology professor David Fessell, M.D., says the art form teaches doctors to be fully present with patients.

In early May, you might have spotted an odd sight through a classroom window on campus: medical students playing. They face off in pairs, raise an arm or a leg in unison like courting cranes, dissolve into laughter. They draw weird cartoons on easels. They mime an airplane. More laughter.

All the tomfoolery has a serious purpose. Third-years embarking on the wards take a workshop in improvisational theatre, or "improv," its aim to help them master effective, empathetic communication.

Radiology professor David Fessell, M.D., spearheaded the improv workshop's first appearance last spring, led by the Alan Alda Center for Communicating Science. (This year, local instructors led it.) Fessell says the art form teaches doctors to be fully present with patients.

In improv, as with doctor-patient interactions,"you have to be listening, seeing, tuned to [the other person's] body language, to their emotions, to their words," Fessell says. "Improv teaches connection, empathy and trust."

Useful, too, is improv's cardinal principle, "Yes, And," which teaches performers to embrace and add to each other's statements to build a rich scene. For doctors, the principle is a reminder to respond to patients with phrases like "Tell me more" or "Help me understand."

"It builds a bridge rather than [saying] 'No,' or 'I get what you're saying but we can't do that,'" Fessell says. "It's receiving the gift of what they're saying and giving a gift back."

In one game, pairs of students take turns complaining about a pet peeve. Their partners listen carefully, then present that complaint to the group using positive terms. The point is to look past anger to detect what is truly important to that person. After Vicki Koski-Carell, class of 2018, complained about sexism in bike shops, her partner told the class that Vicki cared about equality for all. "I felt heard," Vicki said.

For doctors, the principle is a reminder to respond to patients with phrases like "Tell me more" or "Help me understand."
Useful, too, is improv's cardinal principle, "Yes, And," which teaches performers to embrace and add to each other's statements to build a rich scene.


More Articles About: Education Improv Comedy Doctor-Patient Relationship Empathy
Featured News & Stories glowy balls images connected light green
Health Lab
Candida auris: The deadly fungus on the rise
Candida auris is a deadly fungus on the rise that the CDC has issues warnings about. A Michigan Medicine microbiologist and immunologist explains more about the pathogen.
girl in yellow dress raising hands at podium
Health Lab
First-year residents reflect on their journeys and offer advice for Match Day
On Match Day, several recent medical school graduates recount their first years as working physicians.
fly on green leaf
Health Lab
Fruit flies feast for pleasure as well as necessity
Study reveals the way flies are just like us when it comes to food.
nurses from 1918 wearing masks in hospitals standing together black and white photo
Health Lab
History saved lives in this pandemic. Will society listen next time?
The success of efforts to “flatten the curve” in the COVID-19 pandemic relied on University of Michigan research on the 1918 influenza pandemic.
cells in pink and teal
Health Lab
Using the power of artificial intelligence
A new software tool, called LabGym, helps researchers across the life sciences more efficiently analyze animal behaviors.
A group of 6 Medical School alumni wearing University of Michigan gear, pose together.
Medicine at Michigan
Starting medical education on day one of undergrad
Inteflex, a bygone program at the University of Michigan Medical School, blended undergraduate and medical studies, granting first-year students admission to the Medical School.