TY - JOUR T1 - Jazz and the ‘Art’ of Medicine: Improvisation in the Medical Encounter JF - The Annals of Family Medicine JO - Ann Fam Med SP - 164 LP - 169 DO - 10.1370/afm.624 VL - 5 IS - 2 AU - Paul Haidet Y1 - 2007/03/01 UR - http://www.annfammed.org/content/5/2/164.abstract N2 - Improvisation is an important aspect of patient-physician communication. It is also a defining feature of jazz music performance. This essay uses examples from jazz to illustrate principles of improvisation that relate to an individual communication act (ie, building space into one’s communication), a physician’s communicative style (ie, developing one’s voice), and the communicative process of the medical encounter (ie, achieving ensemble). At all 3 levels, the traditions of jazz improvisation can inform efforts to research and teach medical interviewing by fostering a contextualized view of patient-physician communication. Annals Journal Club selection—see inside back cover or http://www.annfammed.org/AJC/. ER -