The medical interview has three main functions: for the patient to narrate to the physician symptoms and relevant concerns, for the physician to learn about the patient's condition, and to work out a treatment plan which may include recommendations to the patient about behavioral change to prevent further health problems. This special issue gathers five papers based on empirical research examining verbal and nonverbal communication between health providers and patients, sampled from the Netherlands, Italy, Estonia, Poland, Romania, U.S.A., and Canada.