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Context This paper sets out to analyse and interpret the complex events of the last 20 years in order to understand how the teaching and learning of clinical communication has emerged as a core part of the modern undergraduate medical curriculum in most medical schools in the UK. Methods The paper analyses the effects of key political, sociological, historical and policy influences on clinical communication development. Results Political influences include: the effects of neo-liberalism on society and on the professions in general; the challenging of traditional notions of professionalism in medicine; the creation of an internal market within the National Health Service, and the disempowerment of the medical lobby. Sociological influences include: the effects of a ‘marketised’ society on medicine and subtle shifts in the doctor−patient relationship because of this; the emergence of globalised information through the Internet, and the influence of increased litigation against doctors. Historical influences include: the effects of a change in emphasis for medical education away from an inflated factual curriculum towards a curriculum that recognises the importance of student attitudes and the teaching and learning of clinical communication skills. Policy influences include the important effects of Tomorrow's Doctors and the Dearing Report on the modern medical curriculum. Conclusions The paper concludes with a developmental map that charts the complex influences on clinical communication teaching and learning and a brief commentary on the growing body of teachers who deliver and develop the subject today. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]