Convincing medical school faculties that a professional actor can teach empathy to doctors might sound like a losing battle. However, the directors of many residency programs are starting to acknowledge that they need help in this area. New national requirements, recently set by the Accreditation Council for Graduate Medical Education (ACGME), list interpersonal and communication skills as one of six areas of core competency in which programs must educate physicians as part of their training. —Susan Okie —An Act of Empathy (WashPost (registration, will expire))

Good article focusing on the actress who created the role of Vivian Bearing, the English professor dying of cancer in Margaret Edson’s moving play Wit.