Session 1: Developing Advancement Skills Via Medical Improvisation

Egg Harbor, WI US
July 21, 2025 to July 25, 2025
Health care involves constant adaptation to unexpected challenges. Recently a movement spearheaded at Northwestern University’s Feinberg School of Medicine has begun using improvisational acting exercises to teach physicians, psychotherapists, nurses, and pharmacists the ability to respond flexibly in the face of change. This movement, called medical improvisation, has shown promise in promoting a wide variety of communication skills, including empathy, affirmation, collaboration, and authenticity. A recent classification of medical improv skills (Fu, 2019) breaks them into three categories. This year’s seminar will focus on the third category, Advancement, which includes skills that enrich self and others through delivery of ideas (e.g., creativity, spontaneity, modulation of verbal and nonverbal cues). While the effects of practicing medical improv can often be humorous, participants do not need to be “funny” to do it. The leaders of this largely experiential workshop will draw on their close collaboration with Paul Sills, founding director of Chicago’s Second City, who used improvisation to train renowned actors such as Alan Arkin and Alan Alda. After an overview of current research and theory in medical improvisation and advancement skills, the bulk of the week will be devoted to engaging in and discussing a series of simple and entertaining improv exercises in a safe, highly supportive atmosphere. No previous experience with improvisation is required.
 
Psychology CE Credit Statement
The Medical College of Wisconsin is approved by the American Psychological Association to sponsor continuing education for psychologists. The Medical College of Wisconsin maintains responsibility for this program and its content.

This activity contains content or processes that may be potentially stressful.

Target Audience

  • Physicians
  • Nurse Practitioners
  • Physician Assistants
  • Nurses
  • Pharmacists
  • Psychologists
  • Social Workers
  • Psychiatry Residents
  • Medical Students
  • Allied Health Professionals

Learning Objectives

Participants who engage in this education intervention will be able to:
 
  • Describe the importance of spontaneity and improvisational ability in medicine, psychotherapy, pharmacy, and other health-related fields.
  • Identify and explain Fu’s (2019) classification of medical improvisation’s goals and core skills into three categories: (a) Attunement (knowledge of self and others), (b) Affirmation (validation of self and others), and (c) Advancement (enrichment of self and others).
  • Analyze research demonstrating the importance of practitioner advancement skills, focusing on the ability to modulate nonverbal cues (e.g., paralinguistic variety, facial expressiveness) to increase message impact and educational effectiveness.
  • Demonstrate advancement skills via medical improvisation techniques (e.g., modulation of vocal pitch, volume, speech rate, emphatic accentuation).
Additional information

Contact

Name: 
Caimen Masterson
Phone Number: 
+1 (414) 955-7250
Course summary
Available credit: 
  • 15.00 AMA PRA Category 1 Credit(s)™
    AMA PRA Category 1 Credit(s)™
  • 15.00 APA
    APA credit.
  • 15.00 Hours of Participation
    Hours of Participation credit.
  • 15.00 NASW
  • 15.00 NP Contact Hours
  • 15.00 PA
    PA credit.
Course opens: 
01/10/2025
Course expires: 
07/20/2025
Event starts: 
07/21/2025 - 9:00am CDT
Event ends: 
07/25/2025 - 12:15pm CDT
Cost:
$722.00

Monday:

  • What is medical improvisation? Definitions
  • The critical role of spontaneous adaptability in health care
  • Overview of Fu’s (2019) classification of the goals and benefits of medical improvisation
  • Literature documenting the critical role of provider-patient communication in improving outcomes and increasing patient satisfaction
  • Evidence for the effectiveness of practitioner advancement skills, focusing on nonverbal expressiveness (e.g., paralinguistic variety, modulation of volume, gestural fluency)
  • Basic principles of medical improvisation
  • Warm-up exercises

Tuesday:

  • Advancement Skills 1

Wednesday:

  • Advancement Skills 2

Thursday:

  • Advancement Skills 3

Friday:

  • Summary and conclusions
  • Wrap-up exercises
The Landmark Resort
4929 Landmark Drive
Egg Harbor, WI 54209
United States
+1 (800) 273-7877

Travel

Lodging in July and August is in great demand; you must make reservations early. A block of suites has been set aside at the Landmark Resort. These suites will be held until June 6th, 2025, or until they are filled.

From its site on the bluff, the Landmark offers outstanding views of the waters of Green Bay with 294 units comprised of 1, 2, and 3-bedroom suites. Facilities include the Carrington Pub and Grill, 1 indoor and 3 outdoor pools, 2 tennis courts, whirlpools, steam rooms, and a fitness center and game room. The Landmark Resort is Door County’s largest and best full-service facility.

The Landmark Resort
4929 Landmark Drive
Egg Harbor, Wisconsin 54209

Reservations: (800) 273-7877
http://www.thelandmarkresort.com
To book through our discounted group rate, please call the Landmark reservation line at (800) 273-7877 and state that you are attending the Door County Summer Institute. No group code is required.
Group rates cannot be booked online.

Frederick J. Heide, PhD, is Professor Emeritus at the California School of Professional Psychology at Alliant International University in the San Francisco Bay Area. He was a member of the core faculty for 37 years and won both the Master Teacher and Teacher of the Year Awards. He earned his doctorate in clinical psychology from Pennsylvania State University in 1981 and has co-presented with Lee Becker at MCW’s Door County Summer Institute for 26 continuous seasons. Dr. Heide received the Outstanding Research Contribution Award from the Association for Advancement of Behavior Therapy (AABT) for his foundational work on relaxation-induced anxiety and has published in the Journal of Consulting and Clinical Psychology, Psychophysiology, Mindfulness, Journal of Psychotherapy Integration, Behavior Research and Therapy, Psychology of Aesthetics, Creativity and the Arts, Psychotherapy: Theory, Research, Practice, Training, Journal of Psychoactive Drugs, and elsewhere. He also served as associate editor of the APA Journal PsycCRITIQUES. Dr. Heide co-founded and has performed for five decades with Northern Sky Theater, which has received the Wisconsin Governor’s Award for Arts, Culture, and Heritage. During the 2024-2025 season at the Milwaukee Repertory Theater, he performed in the musical comedy Lumberjacks in Love. Dr. Heide has co-authored two dozen shows including Belgians in Heaven, Hell’s Belgians, and Packer Fans from Outer Space (with Lee Becker and James Kaplan) and the deer-hunting musical Guys & Does (with Lee Becker and Paul Libman). He has also recorded three albums and published a book of 55 original songs (2022’s Tangled in Wonder). Dr. Heide studied improvisation with The Second City’s founding director Paul Sills and created several shows with him, including Moon of the Long Nights and Ya Ya You Betcha. In 2023 he received the Winifred Boynton Creative Spirit Award for his significant and enduring contributions to Door County.

Lee Becker began improvising over 35 years ago with ComedySportz while attending UW Madison. He helped found ComedySportz NYC, and worked with the group in Milwaukee, performing and running workshops in all three locations. He is a core member of Northern Sky Theater where he is a performer, musician, and playwright. Lee was a founding member of Door Shakespeare in Door County, WI, and has also performed and written for First Stage Children’s Theater in Milwaukee. Along with Doc Heide, he has been a workshop facilitator for DCSI for over 20 years, providing trainings using role play and Spolin theater games. He has done similar work as a guest teacher at Alliant University’s CA School of Professional Psychology.

Activity Director:
Carlyle H Chan, MD
Professor of Psychiatry and 
the Institute for Health and Equity-Bioethics and Humanities
Medical College of Wisconsin

Planning Committee Members:
Ellen Leitner, MSW, LCSW
Department of Psychiatry and Behavioral Medicine
Medical College of Wisconsin

Kevin Bozymski, PharmD, BCPS, BCPP
Assistant Professor, Department of Clinical Science
Medical College of Wisconsin School of Pharmacy 
Assistant Professor, Department of Psychiatry and Behavioral Medicine
Medical College of Wisconsin

Kylie Lenz, PA-C
Physician Assistant 
Department of Psychiatry and Behavioral Medicine
Medical College of Wisconsin

Heather M. Smith, PhD, ABPP
Lead Psychologist
Director of Psychology Training
Milwaukee VA Medical Center
Associate Professor
Department of Psychiatry and Behavioral Medicine
Medical College of Wisconsin

Marisa Stich, APNP
Department of Psychiatry and Behavioral Medicine
Medical College of Wisconsin

In accordance with the ACCME® Standards for Integrity and Independence in Accredited Continuing Education, Standard 3, all in control of content must disclose any relevant financial relationships. The following in control of content had no relevant financial relationships to disclose.

  • Carlyle H Chan
  • Ellen Leitner
  • Kevin Bozymski
  • Kylie Lenz
  • Heather M. Smith
  • Marisa Stich
  • Fred Heide
  • Lee Becker

Accreditation Statement:
The Medical College of Wisconsin is accredited by the Accreditation Council for Continuing Medical Education (ACCME) to provide continuing medical education for physicians.

Designation of Credit Statement
The Medical College of Wisconsin designates this live activity for a maximum of 15 AMA PRA Category 1 CreditsTM. Physicians should claim only the credit commensurate with the extent of their participation in the activity.

Hours of Participation for Allied Health Professionals
The Medical College of Wisconsin designates activity for up to 15 hours of participation for continuing education for allied health professionals.

National Association of Social Workers Credit Statement
This program is pending approval by the National Association of Social Workers for continuing education contact hours.

American Association of Nurse Practitioners Credit Statement
The Medical College of Wisconsin, Inc. is approved as a provider of nurse practitioner continuing education by the American Association of Nurse Practitioners: AANP Provider Number 150930. This program has been approved for 15 contact hours of continuing education (which includes 0 pharmacology). 
 

American Academy of Physician Assistants Credit Statement
This program is not yet approved for CME credit. Conference organizers plan to apply for 15 AAPA Category 1 CME credits from the AAPA Review Panel. The total number of approved credits is yet to be determined.

 

Available Credit

  • 15.00 AMA PRA Category 1 Credit(s)™
    AMA PRA Category 1 Credit(s)™
  • 15.00 APA
    APA credit.
  • 15.00 Hours of Participation
    Hours of Participation credit.
  • 15.00 NASW
  • 15.00 NP Contact Hours
  • 15.00 PA
    PA credit.

Price

Cost:
$722.00
Please login or register to take this course.

*All registrations will be assessed $27.00 non-refundable processing fee, per session.


Credit MUST be claimed before November 30, 2025.
We highly encourage you to complete the evaluation and credit steps before leaving on your last day!
 

Early Bird! Tuition for 5-day sessions will be reduced to $695 and $375 for 2-day sessions, if received by June 1, 2025Tuition for 5-day sessions (3 hrs/day) is $745.  Tuition for 2-day sessions (4 hrs/day) is $395. Graduate and medical students and resident physicians will have a discounted rate, so please contact Caimen at [email protected] to inquire about this discount.

To receive a refund, the request must be made 15 days before the requested session begins. If the refund request is received less than 15 days before the session begins, the registration fee will be forfeited. There is also a $50 cancellation fee, should the request be received within the allotted window. Each session is also charged a non-refundable $27 processing fee.   
 

5-Day Sessions

EARLY BIRD PRICING

PRICING AFTER JUNE 1st

$695

$745


PLEASE NOTE! The billing address entered upon checkout must match the billing address on the credit card you will be using to pay for this course. MCW accepts MasterCard, VISA and Discover card. For a more user-friendly registration and payment experience, Google Chrome and Mozilla Firefox are the recommended web browsers.

Registration scams:
Registration for courses managed by MCW Office of Continuing Professional Development can only be completed through our portal at https://ocpe.mcw.edu/. Course registrations made through other sites cannot be honored. MCW Office of Continuing Professional Development is not able to refund fees paid through unaffiliated registration sites, such as eMedEvents.com, MedConfWorld.com, EventEgg.com, and 10times.com. Please report any unauthorized websites or solicitations for registrations to [email protected].