Steven Cole, MD is Professor of Clinical Psychiatry, Emeritus at S.U.N.Y. Stony Brook Health Sciences Center. He has been awarded grants from the National Institute of Mental Health and the John D. and Catherine T. MacArthur Foundation for clinical, disease management and educational work on depression in general medical settings. He has published more than 40 peer-reviewed journal articles and 30 book chapters, mostly related to psychiatric disorders in medical patients. https://webcampus.drexelmed.edu/doccom/db/assets/authors/StevenCole.htm;

Review of the previous edition: "The three function model is a profound bedrock to provide footing for a medical communication course. It is simple at its most basic level and applicable to any discipline or subspecialty a young trainee would decide to pursue. Thus, it is widely applicable to medical school educators…the model is equally applicable to graduate and post graduate level educators and clinicians who want to advance their skills. There are few medical texts out there that can have such wide appeal and effectiveness. I would wholeheartedly recommend this book to any medical educator who has a need to both learn and teach patient-physician communication." --Joseph S. Weiner, MD, PhD, Associate Professor of Clinical Psychiatry and Medicine, Hofstra North Shore LIJ School of Medicine"In over 20 years of teaching interviewing skills to medical students I have consistently relied on The Medical Interview: The Three Function Approach as a key resource. The combination of humanism, intellectually rigorous biopsychosocial perspective, and clinical pragmatism makes it a uniquely relevant and accessible text. Students have no trouble grasping and applying the three-function structure as a tool for observing, critiquing and improving interview skills in themselves and their peers during our observed interview sessions. The introduction of motivational interviewing concepts in the third edition is a welcome addition." --Roy M. Stein, M.D., Associate Professor, Duke University School of Medicine

• SECTION 1 Overview: Organization, Background, and Rationale1. Organization of the Text2. Background: Interviews Are Everywhere: A Compressed History of the Clinical Interview3. Rationale: A Unified Model of the Clinical Interview for Relationship-Centered CareSECTION 2 The Three Functions4. Function One: Connect5. Function Two: Co-construct the Narrative6. Function Three: Collaborate for Care (Part I)7. Function Three: Collaborate for Care (Part II)-Brief Action PlanningSECTION 3 Professional Identity Formation8. The Three Function Approach to Professional Identity Formation in Healthcare Education and Clinical Care9. Mindfulness: A Central Quality for Clinical Presence in the Three Function Approach10. Use of the Self in Clinical Care11. The Three Function Approach to Patient/Family and Student ConcernsSECTION 4 Structure of the Interview12. Overview and Opening: Invest in the Beginning13. History of the Present Illness: Three Pillars14. Past Medical History15. Family History16. Patient Profile and Social History17. Review of Systems18. Closing the Interview: Summarize With Affirmations of Connection and ContinuitySECTION 5 Digital Technology, Documentation, and Presentation19. The Three Function Approach to Computer Use and Virtual Visits20. Documentation and PresentationSECTION 6 Advanced Applications21. The Three Function Approach to Nonverbal Communication22. Using Motivational Interviewing and Brief Action Planning for Adopting and Maintaining Positive Health Behaviors23. BAP-MI: A Novel Stepped-Care Integration of Brief Action Planning and Motivational Interviewing to Optimize Outcomes24. What Is the Spirit of Motivational Interviewing and Why Is It Relevant to the Three Function Approach?25. BAP-MI in the Three Function Approach: A Stepped-Care Model for Teaching, Learning, and Using Motivational Interviewing and Coaching in Health Care26. Cultural Considerations in the Care of the Patient: The Three Function Approach27. Health Literacy and the Three Function Approach28. Interviewing Older Adults: The Three Function Approach29. The Three Function Approach to the Family Interview30. The Three Function Approach to Interviewing Patients With Unhealthy Substance Use31. The Three Function Approach to Interviewing the Patient Experiencing PsychosisSECTION 7 Chronic and Life-Limiting Illness32. Optimizing Three Function Presence Over Time: Addressing Stresses and Challenges of Chronic Illness33. Clinical Interviewing and Chronic Illness: A Three Function Approach34. Sharing Difficult News While Exploring Hope: The Prepare-Share-Care (PCS) Application of the Three Function Model35. Collaborating for Care in Discussing Limitations of TreatmentSECTION 8 The Three Function Approach in Systems and Society36. The Three Function Approach to Team-Based Care37. Acceptance and Cultural Humility in Health Care: Toward Healing and Solutions Through a Three Function Understanding38. Mitigating Burnout Using the Three Function Approach to Relationship-Centered Care: Application in Practice39. Self, System, and Society: Skills and Mindsets That Help Systems FlourishAppendixA. Patient Care TrianglesB. Tables of Skills