BERNARD BANDMAN, PhD
Dr. Bandman established the psychological services program in 1988 at Southwestern Vermont Regional Cancer Center in Bennington, VT. He is a founder and the Executive Director of the Center for Communication in Medicine, a Bennington, VT non-profit that develops programs and tools to improve communication between patients, families and healthcare professionals. Dr. Bandman spearheads the SpeakSooner initiative, which offers educational and training programs in healthcare communication. He has been featured on Vermont Public Radio and NPR, appears in Dana Farber Cancer Institute’s Living Beyond Cancer video library and produced the Difficult Conversations Video and Workbook, newly revised as SpeakSooner®: A Patient’s Guide to Difficult Conversations.
CELIA ENGEL BANDMAN
Ms. Bandman created and implemented the pioneering role of medical humanist on an interdisciplinary team at Southwestern Vermont Regional Cancer Center in Bennington, VT. In the pilot program (2002-2005) Ms. Bandman documented the patient’s understanding of their diagnosis, prognosis and the effects of illness on themselves and family for the medical record, which served as a tool to facilitate communication and re-address misunderstandings. In 2006, building on the success of the medical humanist model she helped launch the Center for Communication in Medicine. Ms. Bandman is a writer and educator whose articles have been published in Journal of the American Medical Association, Journal of Clinical Oncology, Journal of Supportive Oncology and Journal of Cancer Education. She has been interviewed about her innovative work on TV, NPR, Vermont Public Radio and in print media. Ms. Bandman produced the Difficult Conversations video and created its accompanying workbook revised as SpeakSooner®: A Patient’s Guide to Difficult Conversations.