Teaching suffering: the testimonial-commentary method.

Attempts to define professionalism and humanism suggest that qualities such as compliance to values, patient access, doctor-patient relationship, demeanor, professional management, personal awareness, and motivation are prominent thematic components. In this communication, we present a method for instruction in the values of humanism that may help to overcome the "curricular inertia that plagues medical education." Our approach is structured around a technique of testimonial-commentary as a novel approach to teaching humanism that does not rely upon the traditional role-modeling format.