Suzanne Kurtz PhD
Clinical Professor
Director of Clinical Communication
College of Veterinary Medicine
smkurtz@vetmed.wsu.edu
Education
PhD 1975, University of Denver, Denver, Colorado, USA
MA 1972, University of Denver, Denver, Colorado, USA
BA 1967, Elizabethtown College, Elizabethtown, Pennsylvania, USA
Overview
Suzanne M. Kurtz, PhD was Professor of Communication, joint appointed in
the Faculties of Education and Medicine, University of Calgary from 1976
through 2005. Effective January, 2006, she joined the faculty of Washington
State Universitys College of Veterinary Medicine, where she is Clinical
Professor and Director of Clinical Communication. Focusing her career on
improving communication practices in health care and education and on
developing curricula and methods for teaching and learning communication
skills, she has worked with a variety of groups: medical and education
students, residents, practicing physicians, nurses, allied health
professionals, patient groups, veterinarians and students of veterinary
medicine, teachers, and administrators in health and education.
For 27 years she directed the undergraduate communication curriculum in
Calgarys Faculty of Medicine and has consulted nationally and
internationally at all levels of medical education regarding the specifics
of setting up effective communication programs for medical students,
residents, faculty and staff. In 1998 she began working with colleagues in
the Ontario Veterinary College to pioneer communication programs for
veterinary medicine. Currently she is directing development of Washington
State Universitys communication program for veterinarians and veterinary
students. She has served as advisor to the Bayer Institute for Health Care
Communication, Cancer Care Ontarios Communication Task Force, and Health
Canadas Canadian Breast Cancer Initiative. She was appointed to the task
force that initially developed Calgarys innovative inquiry-based Master of
Teaching program. Currently she is a consulting member of the Royal College
of Physicians and Surgeons of Canadas national CanMEDS Phase IV Communicator
Working Group, the Medical Council of Canadas Executive Committee for the
National Strategy for Physician Communication Skills Assessment and
Enhancement, and Pfizer Animal Healths Frank communication project. Working
across diverse cultural and disciplinary lines, she has collaborated on
communication program development, team building, and conflict management in
education, law and business, and has served on several international
development projects related to health and education in Nepal, Southeast
Asia and South Africa.
Along with numerous articles, her publications include two companion books
co-authored with JD Silverman and J Draper entitled Teaching and Learning
Communication Skills in Medicine and Skills for Communicating with Patients
(Radcliffe Publishing, Oxford, England and San Francisco originally
published in 1998, the revised 2nd editions of both books were published in
2005). An earlier book co-authored with VM Riccardi was entitled
Communication and Counseling in Health Care (1983, Charles C. Thomas,
Springfield, Illinois). Her interest in communication in medicine began in
1974 when she did her doctoral thesis research on the relationship between
the nonverbal communication of physicians and patient satisfaction. Dr.
Kurtz has also published in the areas of participatory education and
participatory development. She collaborated with A. Chuchat, MP Carunungan,
KJ Foreman, and BJ Spronk on a volume entitled Participatory Education in
Cross-Cultural Settings that reflects on a five-year development project
based in the Philippines, Thailand, and Canada (1997, for the Dialogues on
Development Series, published by the Division of International Development,
University of Calgary, Alberta).
Other interests: spending time with family and friends, travel, music and
almost any outdoor activity, especially those that take place in the
wilderness
