The Institute for Communication in Health Care holds an annual International Symposium in order to bring healthcare professionals, clinicians, linguists, communication scholars, educators and researchers together for an inspiring event to share their ideas, experience, and latest research findings on healthcare communication.

The 2018 Symposium was held at the ANU with the theme Translating cutting edge communication research into best practice and training for safe and compassionate healthcare. The speakers included a range of international leaders in healthcare communication including:

• Dr Elizabeth Rider (Harvard Medical School, USA)
• Dr Sam Heard (Medical Director, Central Australian Aboriginal Congress, Australia)
• Professor Rodney Jones (University of Reading, UK)
• Dr Suzanne Eggins (Australian National University, Australia)
• Associate Professor E.Angela Chan (Hong Kong Polytechnic University, Hong Kong)
• Professor May O. Lwin (Nanyang Technological University, Singapore)
• Dr Marilyn Turkovich (Exec. Director, Charter for Compassion International),
• Professor Emerita Suzanne Kurtz (Washington State University, USA)

The 2018 Symposium also celebrated the launch of ICH by Professor Rae Frances, Dean of the ANU College of Arts and Social Sciences, and Professor Jane Dahlstrom, Dean of the ANU College of Health and Medicine.