Ronald M. Epstein, M.D.

Dr. Epstein's NIH-, AHRQ- and foundation-funded studies have added to our understanding of the impact of patient-physician relationships and communication on health, the process of care and health care costs. In particular, his research has focused on patient-centered care, patient influence on clinicians' practice patterns, and clinician mindfulness and self-awareness as applied to stigmatized topics and vulnerable and under-studied populations (e.g. AIDS, somatization, life-limiting illness). He has consulted to and produced monographs on patient-centered care for the National Cancer Institute (2007) and American Board of Internal Medicine (2008).

He has developed innovative educational programs in mindful practice, communication skills, the patient-physician relationship, physician self-awareness and assessment of professional competence, including peer assessment. His influential papers on educational theory and practice have been published in JAMA and the New England Journal of Medicine. In 2009, his team demonstrated the positive effects of a mindful communication program on physician empathy, burnout and clinical care. He has over 100 peer-reviewed publications relating to communication in medicine and medical education, and an additional 60 chapters, editorials and monographs.

Dr. Epstein graduated from Wesleyan University (1976) and Harvard Medical School (1984). Among his accomplishments, he was named the first George Engel and John Romano Dean's Teaching Scholar at the University of Rochester, and received the Lynn Payer Award from the American Academy on Communication in Healthcare for lifetime achievement in research on communication and health. He has been a Fulbright scholar at the Institute for Health Studies in Barcelona, Spain and a visiting scholar at the University of Sydney, and continues collaborations with both institutions. He is an accomplished harpsichordist and gourmet cook, and an avid cyclist and cross-country skier. His wife, Deborah Fox is a freelance lutenist and founding artistic director of Pegasus Early Music. They have two children, Malkah and Eli.

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