Communicating with Presence

  • Free
  • Certificate included
  • Course certificate
  • Advanced
  • 1 week
Provider
Stanford
Cost
Free
Certificate
Included, free
Level
Advanced
Duration
1 week
Effort
1 hrs/week
Format
Self-paced
Language
English
Subjects
Psychology
Source
Stanford Online
Last verified
16 Sep 2026

Communicating with Presence is a one-hour Stanford Medicine course on the Presence 5 model, a set of five practices for clinician-patient communication developed at Stanford's Program in Bedside Medicine. It is hosted on edX in an audit-only track at no cost, and Stanford Center for Continuing Medical Education lists it with a registration fee of FREE, an estimated one hour to complete, 0.25 AMA PRA Category 1 Credits for physicians and 0.25 hours of Non-Physician Participation Credit for other learners, with accreditation running to February 5, 2028, the same day the edX run ends. After completing the module you follow the claim-credit link to Stanford's MY CE portal, complete an evaluation and can download or email the certificate. The five practices give the course its structure: preparing with intention, including reviewing the patient's history and resetting before the visit; listening intently and completely, with attention to body position and letting the patient finish; agreeing on what matters most by setting an agenda from the patient's priorities and asking open questions; connecting to the patient's story with positive language and questions about beliefs and attitudes; and exploring emotional cues and validating them.

The instructors are Donna Zulman, Abraham Verghese and Sonoo Thadaney Israni. edX rates it advanced and self-paced with no prerequisites. The certificate is a CME participation certificate from the Stanford portal, not a public badge.

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What you’ll learn

  • Prepare for a visit with intention by reviewing the patient history and resetting beforehand
  • Listen intently and completely, minding body position and letting patients finish
  • Agree on what matters most by building an agenda around patient priorities
  • Connect to the patient's story with positive language and questions about beliefs
  • Explore and validate emotional cues during the encounter

Who it’s for

Physicians, nurses and other clinicians who want a short, structured framework for patient conversations. Very brief, so it earns only a quarter credit.

Source: Stanford Online (opens in a new tab) · Verified · Report a change

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