Health Care Negotiation and Conflict Resolution
HARVARD SCHOOL OF PUBLIC HEALTH

FALL
Instructors:
Leonard J. Marcus
Barry C. Dorn
Program for Health Care Negotiation and Conflict Resolution
677 Huntington Ave.
Boston, MA 02115
617-496-0867

This course introduces students to the theory and practice of negotiation and conflict resolution. Particular emphasis is placed on integrating analytic skills, negotiation techniques and conflict resolution methods into the practice of public health. The course is built around the concepts and methods of “The Walk in the Woods” – a four-step method of interest-based negotiation model developed by the instructors. Much of the class is devoted to simulation exercise in which general concepts and methods are demonstrated and practiced. These exercises model disputes typical of health care settings and public health problems. The debriefing which follows each exercise offers individual feedback, as well as the opportunity to examine applied issues of organizational communication, system design, and conflict.

By the end of the course, students will have knowledge of the overt and covert causes of conflict, concepts for analyzing disputes and a variety of methods useful for preventing, managing, resolving and when necessary, initiating a conflict. Enrollment limited to 48. (Day and time to be announced.)

Skills and Methods of Health Care Negotiation and Conflict Resolution
HARVARD SCHOOL OF PUBLIC HEALTH

SPRING
Instructors:
Leonard J. Marcus
Barry C. Dorn
Program for Health Care Negotiation and Conflict Resolution
677 Huntington Ave.
Boston, MA 02115
617-496-0867

This course builds upon the basic Skills and Methods course, providing students the opportunity to more deeply explore the concepts and techniques of negotiation and conflict resolution. (Students enrolled in this course must be enrolled simultaneously in the basic course, which meets on the same day and in the two-hour time slot just prior to this course session.) For example, on topics of negotiation, students in the advanced class examine methods to create common ground and agreement on highly polarized issues upon which parties are contentiously divided. This advanced class also more thoroughly develops practice skills, including strategies and techniques of mediation. This additional material is covered by a combination of lecture, in class discussion, and advanced simulation and role play exercises. (Thursday 8:30-10:20 a.m.)