The importance of being earnest and NICE

UK's National Institute for Health and Care Excellence is widely admired both in the country and abroad for the rigorous manner with which it develops guidance on the use of new and existing medicines, treatments and procedures within the NHS.  (We have no such body in the US.)

It is hard to imagine (not!) that some of its deliberations are controversial.  How wonderful then to see this language used in describing the qualifications desired for an analyst position the Institute is seeking to fill:

“Excellent oral and written communication skills, including the ability to communicate highly complex ideas to a range of audiences where there are significant barriers to acceptance which need to be overcome in a hostile, antagonistic or highly emotive atmosphere.”

(Thanks to Marco D. Huesch, MBBS, Ph.D., assistant professor at the USC Sol Price School of Public Policy, for this lead.)