Macy Initiative in Health Communication

Undergraduate Curriculum Initiative

UMass faculty contributed to the collaborative development of two seminal documents:

• The Model of the Structure and Sequence of Effective Doctor-Patient Communication
• Macy Communication Competencies

These documents serve as the foundation of Macy curriculum development efforts at each school.

At UMass, an extensive curriculum inventory was conducted to help determine those health communication competencies which needed to be incorporated into the curriculum. Priority communication competencies were identified, and a Request for Proposals was issued to all UMass faculty, inviting proposals to be funded through the Macy Initiative.

Eight curriculum development projects were selected for implementation in the 2000-2001 academic year (July 1, 2000-June 30, 2001).