Academics and practitioners now recognize the importance of a data-driven and microanalytic approach to research on professional communication training. This book is the first to empirically investigate the development of interactional competence by novice professionals using a microanalytic and multidimensional framework. In examining how inexperienced pharmacists (interns) changed over time in their management of various interactional aspects of the patient consultation, this book extends the potential of conversation analysis to the longitudinal observation of individuals' interactional competence. Its detailed analysis of the patient consultations additionally provides an unparalleled description of this discursive practice at US community pharmacies. As well as appealing to applied linguists and social scientists with an interest in workplace communication, Developing Interactional Competence is a valuable resource for researchers, teachers, and practitioners involved in health communication training. Its analytic framework makes it essential reading for anyone attracted by a multidimensional and practice-specific approach to understanding interactional competence.