New TCU and UNTHSC School of Medicine announces assistant dean of patient communication
Evonne Kaplan-Liss, M.D., will serve as nation’s first dean devoted solely to patient communication
The TCU and UNT Health Science Center School of Medicine, which is scheduled to open in 2019, has named Evonne Kaplan-Liss as an assistant dean of communications. She will focus on training students and faculty “to be effective communicators and empathetic scholars.”
Kaplan-Liss will also develop the curriculum and create an environment that teaches medical students to communicate more effectively with patients, colleagues, the community, media, donors, and policymakers, according to UNTHSC. When working with faculty, she will lead communication training and work to incorporate the communication curriculum within the medical school.
Kaplan-Liss previously served as founding medical director of the Alan Alda Center for Communicating Science in New York state. There, she developed the curriculum and led national and international workshops to educate students, faculty, and administrators.