A webinar from tEACH

Breaking bad news (BBN) is a complex, high-stakes task that requires clear, compassionate communication while maintaining professional resilience. Poorly managed BBN encounters can negatively impact patients’ emotional well-being, treatment adherence, and bereavement process, as well as contribute to burnout and emotional distress among professionals.

Despite its importance, many healthcare professionals report feeling unprepared and highly stressed in these encounters. Research highlights that effective BBN education combines theoretical learning, experiential training, and structured feedback. However, traditional methods—such as standardized patients—are costly, time-consuming, and logistically challenging, limiting hands-on training opportunities.

A New Approach: AI-Powered Training – To address these challenges, we developed an AI-driven BBN training simulator that provides unlimited, cost-effective, and personalized role-playing scenarios. Participants engage in real-time simulations with AI-powered virtual patients, receive reflective and structured, protocol-based feedback, and practice communication skills in a safe, private, and multilingual environment.

This innovative system offers a scalable and accessible solution for improving healthcare communication—enhancing both patient-centered care and professionals’ well-being.

Teachers’ Lounge Webinar Goals

1. Introduce gold-standard methods for BBN education and the potential of AI-driven simulation (15 min)
2. Participants can engage in an interactive, real-time AI-powered BBN simulation and are invited to share their experiences as communication experts through filling a short pre- post questionnaire (~30 min)
3. Discuss benefits, limitations, ethical considerations, and integration into healthcare education.

Participants will gain hands-on experience and receive personalized AI-driven feedback to enhance their skills in breaking bad news.

Presenters –

Prof. Orit Karnieli-Miller, PhD, FACH, Full Professor and the Dr. Sol Amsterdam Dr. David P. Schumann Endowed Chair in Medical Education. A leading expert in medical communication, professionalism, and reflective practice with over two decades of experience. Her pioneering research focuses on enhancing patient-centered care through improved communication skills training. Recipient of the 2023 Lynn Payer Award for outstanding contributions to healthcare communication.

Dr. Zohar Elyoseph, PhD, Licensed educational psychologist and senior faculty member at the University of Haifa; research fellow in the Department of Brain Sciences at Imperial College London. Dr. Elyoseph specializes in artificial intelligence and its applications in mental health, leading research that applies cutting-edge AI technologies to clinical and psychological fields.