Lead With Compassion Workshop - April 8 & 9, 2026, 8 April | Event in San Diego | AllEvents

Lead With Compassion Workshop - April 8 & 9, 2026

Sanford Institute for Empathy and Compassion

Highlights

Wed, 08 Apr, 2026 at 08:30 am

Franklin Antonio Hall

Starting at USD 0

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Date & Location

Wed, 08 Apr, 2026 at 08:30 am - Thu, 09 Apr, 2026 at 05:00 pm (GMT-07:00)

Franklin Antonio Hall

3180 Voigt Drive, San Diego, United States

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About the event

Lead With Compassion Workshop - April 8 & 9, 2026
An arts- and humanities-based leadership training for health care professionals and medical educators to foster empathy and compassion.

About this Event

Hosted by UC San Diego's Center for Compassionate Communication, Lead With Compassion is a 2-day workshop in San Diego, CA, on April 8 & 9, 2026, that equips health care professionals, medical educators, and teaching artists who work in medical education and health care with tools to enhance their leadership performance, using proven empathy and compassion principles.

Hear the impact of Lead With Compassion directly from medical providers across the nation:


Youtube Video


Lead With Compassion is for you if you want to:

  • Discover empathic and compassionate principles that can enhance your clinical practice, medical teaching, and leadership performance in health care.
  • Ignite stronger, more meaningful relationships with your patients, peers, and self.
  • Transform the way you think, see, and act in today’s ever changing health care landscape.


Get to know your Lead With Compassion Workshop instructors:


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Evonne Kaplan-Liss, MD, MPH
Director, Center for Compassionate Communication
UC San Diego Center for Compassionate Communication

Dr. Kaplan-Liss is a national leader in communication training in medicine. Before coming to University of California, San Diego (UCSD), she held the first dean-level position in a medical school, TCU and UNTHSC School of Medicine with the mission to train Empathetic Scholars®. Dr. Kaplan-Liss came to TCU from the nationally acclaimed Alan Alda Center for Communicating Science, where she was the Founding Medical Program Director and trained thousands of physicians and medical students to communicate with empathy and clarity. Her life’s work is dedicated to training healthcare providers, medical students, and researchers to communicate with compassion with their patients, colleagues from other disciplines, the community, the media, funders, benefactors, and policymakers.

Val Lantz-Gefroh, MFA
Director of Communication Education
UC San Diego Center for Compassionate Communication

Val is a professional actor, director, and teacher. She came to UCSD after serving as the Artistic Director of the TCU and UNTHSC School of Medicine. For the last decade, she has created unique curricula based on theater practice and other disciplines to help healthcare providers, students and researchers connect and engage more effectively with their audiences.

Gary Buckholz, MD, HMDC, FAAHPM
Lead With Compassion Faculty and Planning Commitee
UC San Diego Center for Compassionate Communication

Dr. Gary Buckholz is a Hospice and Palliative Care physician and Clinical Professor at UCSD. He received his MD from the University of Kansas and completed his Family Medicine residency at Brown University. Gary completed fellowship training in Hospice and Palliative Care at the Institute for Palliative Medicine in San Diego. Dr. Buckholz currently serves as Fellowship Director for UCSD’s Hospice and Palliative Medicine Fellowship. He provides palliative care consultation utilizing a team approach emphasizing effective communication for hospitalized patients.



For any workshop-related queries:
Email Norma Nava at bm9uYXZhIHwgaGVhbHRoICEgdWNzZCAhIGVkdQ==



Day 1 Agenda


🕑: 08:30 AM - 06:00 PM
Day 1 Agenda: Foundational Tools - Making Connections (Subject to Change)

Info: We will focus today on awareness, connection, listening, flexibility, and designing a clear message about complicated information for a lay audience. We will review important research that validates the importance of compassionate communication in medicine for healthcare providers as well as patients and families. Immersive exercises will build strong team engagement, foster expression, make room for vulnerability and lay the foundation for speaking with clarity, compassion, and authenticity. At the end of the day, you will have time to share what you brought you to this conference and your goals moving forward.



🕑: 08:30 AM - 09:00 AM
Continental Breakfast

🕑: 09:00 AM - 09:30 AM
Making the Case for Compassionate Communication

🕑: 09:30 AM - 10:30 AM
Connecting Through Improvisation

🕑: 10:30 AM - 10:45 AM
Break

🕑: 10:45 AM - 12:00 PM
Clarifying a Complicated Message

🕑: 12:00 PM - 01:00 PM
Lunch

🕑: 01:00 PM - 01:50 PM
Finding Common Ground

🕑: 01:50 PM - 02:30 PM
Psychological Safety & the "Ladder of Inference"

🕑: 02:30 PM - 02:45 PM
Break

🕑: 02:45 PM - 03:45 PM
Hearing Beneath Emotion

🕑: 03:45 PM - 04:15 PM
Written Reflection & Group Discussion

🕑: 04:15 PM - 05:00 PM
Round Robin Discussion

🕑: 05:00 PM - 06:00 PM
(Optional) Beyond the Nametag: Networking Hour

Day 2 Agenda


🕑: 08:30 AM - 05:00 PM
Day 2 Agenda: Challenging Conversations in Medicine (Subject to Change)

Info: The focus today will be on challenging conversations in medicine and include roleplays, group sharing, and vulnerable conversations. The curriculum is scaffolded to provide applications to our foundational tools in observation, listening and connecting - and an opportunity to share and practice the art of medicine in a brave, supportive space. This will be a highly emotional day, with important breaks and reflective writing to process your learning and your hot buttons. There is nothing to prepare for this day’s session.



🕑: 08:30 AM - 09:00 AM
Continental Breakfast

🕑: 09:00 AM - 09:10 AM
Warm Up Exercise

🕑: 09:10 AM - 10:30 AM
Inquiry-based Feedback

🕑: 10:30 AM - 10:45 AM
Break

🕑: 10:45 AM - 11:50 AM
Engaging with Difference

🕑: 11:50 AM - 12:00 PM
Discussion

🕑: 12:00 PM - 01:00 PM
Lunch

🕑: 01:00 PM - 01:10 PM
Warm Up Exercise

🕑: 01:10 PM - 02:20 PM
Sharing Serious News

🕑: 02:20 PM - 02:30 PM
Break

🕑: 02:30 PM - 03:00 PM
Finding the Headline

🕑: 03:00 PM - 03:50 PM
Holding Space Roleplays

🕑: 03:50 PM - 04:00 PM
Break

🕑: 04:00 PM - 04:10 PM
Reflective Writing

🕑: 04:10 PM - 05:00 PM
Closing Discussion & Wrap-Up


Also check out other Workshops in San Diego, Arts events in San Diego, Health & Wellness events in San Diego.

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Ticket Info

Tickets for Lead With Compassion Workshop - April 8 & 9, 2026 can be booked here.

Ticket type Ticket price
Early Bird 599 USD
General Registration 699 USD
Beyond the Nametag: Networking Hour Free
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Nearby Hotels

Franklin Antonio Hall, 3180 Voigt Drive, San Diego, United States

Just a heads up!

We have gathered all the information for you in one convenient spot, but please keep in mind that these are subject to change. We do our best to keep everything updated, but something might be out of sync. For the latest updates, always check the official event details by clicking the "Find Tickets" button.

Lead With Compassion Workshop - April 8 & 9, 2026, 8 April | Event in San Diego | AllEvents
Lead With Compassion Workshop - April 8 & 9, 2026
Wed, 08 Apr, 2026 at 08:30 am
USD 0