Testimonials
It was a great conference! I met some of the world leaders in patient safety and quality as well as made connections for possible collaborations in the future in addition to two projects we have just started with some of the other attendees. I encourage people who are interested in the role of communication science for informing quality health care to check into being a part of this organization.
Rick Street, Ph.D., Texas A&M University
The beauty of the location within the Tuscan Hills of Italy was only outdone by the quality of the scholarship and scholarly conversation that I experienced during the ISCOME 2015 conference on patient safety. By bringing together leading scholars across a wide range of discipline and continents, along with practitioners and community leaders that ensured a discussion grounded in practical solutions, the conference advanced our understanding of the patient safety domain with every panel and talk.
Walid A. Afifi, Professor and Chair, Department of Communication Studies, University of Iowa
A special gathering filled with embryonic visions yet very practical discussions about communication and patient safety. And a very unique integration of researchers, clinicians, practicians, and educators who are deeply committed to protecting and enhancing patients’ experiences whenever they are in need of medical care. In a beautiful setting and across well-organized sessions and social events, special attention was given to creating transdisciplinary opportunities to collaborate and make a positive difference in the diverse and often complex worlds of health and healing. Eccelente lavoro!”
Wayne Beach, Ph.D., San Diego State University
Those of us who were fortunate enough to be at the 2013 COME conference unanimously agreed is was just one of the best organised of multifunctional international events. It crossed all the borders and still left each one of us intact. Outstanding for me were the top speakers from different fields who collectively made their individual contributions to the making of a unique whole that did indeed address the burden of effectively communicating unintended medical error to work colleagues and to patients. Representing the patients’ point of view I was made to feel welcomed.
Brian Stafford, WHO Patient for Patient Safety Champion, Australia
“The 2013 COME conference was an exciting forum on the urgent matter of communicating about medical error. This global gathering of experts had energy and important interdisciplinary synergy. And the conference's dramatically beautiful setting at Monte Verita inspired rich exchange and bold inquiry. The 2015 ISCOME conference in Montecatini promises more of the same—please join us!”
Marcia Day Childress, Ph.D., University of Virginia School of Medicine
“Of all the professional research conferences I’ve attended, large and small, I’ve never learned so much as I did at COME 2013 in Lugano. The multidisciplinary approach to communication issues in medicine is brilliant, and it has great promise. COME 2013 certainly delivered in every way. Being unique in so many ways (networking, the content, the views), COME 2013 tagged my mental representations of critical information for many years to come. I look forward to subsequent meetings.”
John Petrocelli, Ph.D., Department of Psychology, Wake Forest University, USA
“I think of conferences like hotels. You can go to the Hyatt, and it will be boring but reliable; you can go to Comfort Inn and - well, at least it will be cheap. You can go to an unknown private hotel, and you have no idea what to expect. Or you can go to a hotel that is highly recommended by your friends and have a great time in every way. I put COME in that category; my friends like going, and I like it. COME is one of the most pleasant conferences I have been too: the right size to be highly effective, high quality talks and discussions, excellent panels, no condescending talks, superb food and really useful. And really nice people who want to attack some of the world's most vexing problems together. I made new friends. Come to COME!”
Prof. Harold Thimbleby, CEng FIET FRCPE FLSW HonFRSA HonFRCP, Swansea University, UK
“To be able to participate in COME 2013 had a huge impact. Communication is without doubt the most important part in dealing with medical errors. The unique location, the amazing program and faculty made COME 2013 a tremendous experience. Especially a physician working at 'the front of medical errors' it is of invaluable importance to meet with experts in this field. COME 2013 was not only about knowledge and exchange of information but also about new friendship.”
Dr. med. Thierry Girard, Head of Obstetric Anesthesia, University Hospital of Basel, Switzerland
“The COME 2013 meeting in Lugano was everything a conference should be – state of the art presentations on the science with luxurious amounts of time for discussion, brilliant and sympathetic colleagues, great food and drink, conversations into the night, all in a congenial venue and stunning milieu. I look forward to the succeeding meeting, which promises to be even better.”
Prof. Albert Wu, M.D., Johns Hopkins Bloomberg School of Public Health, USA
“COME 2013 was a great experience! The presentations were stimulating, and the conversations over lunch and dinner were collegial and thought provoking. Dr. Hannawa and her students organized a fabulous retreat that was enjoyable both professionally and personally. If you want to know more about how leading experts from a variety of disciplines are thinking about disclosure, I highly recommend COME.”
Kathleen Mazor, EdD, Department of Medicine, University of Massachusetts Medical School; Meyers Primary Care Institute; USA
‘COME 2013 was unique. It bought together a diverse group of world experts in patient safety, communication, burnout and human factors. The COME organisers blended us together in a way that led to new insights for everyone. New collaborations were formed. New friendships made. This is the conference to attend if you want to think outside your own box, challenge your perceptions and mature your understanding.'
Dr. Jane Carthey, Human Factors and Patient Safety Specialist, UK