Bedside Manners 2.0

26 tools to boost your "alliance-o-meter" readings...

...without providing yet-more personally-draining empathy

Next session:  Wed, February 18, 2026 (12:00PM–3:30PM Eastern)

Earlybird deadline:  Fri, February 13, 2026 at 5:00PM Eastern

There are many tools (besides exhausting empathy injections) you can use to keep the doctor-patient relationship far from the Zone of Peril. In Bedside Manners 2.0, we review twenty-six (26) such tools.

Topics covered include the art, science and legalities of apologies; collaboration signifiers; emotional investment expressions; existential connectors (e.g., meaning, isolation, death); expectation management; the universal need for "fairness"; fiduciary role reminders; goal (re)negotiations; humour (honk, honk); jolting studies on physician punctuality; Gable's "response style" matrix; "transference 2.0"; validation (as in borderline personality disorder) ... and sixteen additional rapport-building tools. 

Doctors who keep their "alliance-o-meter" readings high—without reflexly resorting to draining empathy dosing—enjoy better clinical outcomes—and fewer fears of complaints—and better personal (and familial) well-being. 

Who needs a touchy-feely module like Bedside Manners 2.0? Make no mistake, this workshop is about some dreadfully soft stuff.

Absolutely nothing in this workshop could be deemed "heroic". In Bedside Manners 2.0 there isn't a single mention of Piper forceps, chest tubes, Haldol jabs, tPA infusions, or cot-shaking cardioversions. Our apologies, but absolutely none of the tools covered in this workshop make for riveting television drama. But if you're still with us, might we interest the Good Doctor in any of the following soft stuff? 

1. Improved day-to-day patient outcomes.  The most recent meta-analysis revealed that about 28% of the outcome in behavior change efforts is based purely on the strength of the doctor-patient relationship. Pick a project: vaccine acceptance, antihypertensive adherence, smoking cessation, exercise prescriptions, rehab compliance... about 1/3rd of your success will be determined by your rapport with your patients. Better rapport = better outcomes. 

2. Improved physician well-being.  Unfortunately, most physicians are "one trick ponies" when it comes to rapport: we tend to address our alliance challenges with yet more of that drug called empathy. Should we be shocked that so many of our patients are "empathy addicts"? Is it really that surprising that so many of us suffer from PCAD (Premature Clinician Aging Disorder)? 

3. Medico-legal risk reduction.  Please don't test this: It's been claimed that if your bedside manners are excellent, you can amputate your patient’s wrong leg twice, and she might still say nice things about you. What keeps the CMPA busier? Technically-competent colleagues with suboptimal bedside manners.  

It's no laughing matter. After all, who needs a frivolous claim? As the CMPA puts it, "The language used in statements of claim is usually cold, harsh, and critical... physicians may feel betrayal, guilt, or remorse... physicians can lose objectivity." 

Do you need that stress? No, you do not.

Consider Bedside Manners 2.0 a little top-up insurance policy. 

Head instructor Greg Dubord, MD is the CME Director of CBT Canada, and the prime developer of medical CBT. He has presented over 500 workshops, including over 50 for the College of Family Physicians of Canada, and is a University of Toronto CME Teacher of the Year.

Want this workshop in-house? Email Lurissa Kelland: registrar@cbt.ca. 

Register promptly and save $200

Sponsors of CBT Canada's workshops have included the CFPC, 
Dalhousie, McGill, McMaster, Memorial, Queen's, UAlberta, 
UBC, UCalgary, UdeM, USask, UToronto, and Western (UWO).

Select your preferred date

Times below are Eastern

If you ever need to cancel your registration for any reason whatsoever, you may transfer 100% of your tuition to another workshop without any penalty, or receive a full refund minus a 25% processing fee (policy).

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