Standardized Patients

Medical Post-Baccalaureate Program students will be given the opportunity to become a member of the “standardized patients” team. For the students who elect to participate, the standardized patient assists medical students to better understand the concepts of medical professionalism, and helps develop an effective and therapeutic patient-physician relationship through the interaction between the standardized patient and the physician-in training (medical student). With the standardized patient program, postbac students provide the environment where medical students learn how to perform medical history and physical exam prior to examining a regular patient in clinic. Postbac students will have the opportunity to learn the disease etiology, and the appropriate medical background to be able to competently respond to student’s questions. By participating in this program, postbac students will participate in the evaluation of the performance of the medical students who will examine the “patient” with specific history or ailments scripted and rehearsed. Postbac students will gain insight to the critical thinking process required to perform a focused history and physical examination. They will be provided with training by the Foundations of Medicine (FOM) staff from the COM and have ample opportunity to practice their roles as standardized patients. The students are supervised as they role play as standardized patients by the FOM staff. These opportunities will provide an insight into the physician/patient interaction.  By role-playing as the patient, students will place themselves in the shoes of the patient, and develop empathy for how they feel as they are questioned or examined by a physician. Postbac students will also have the opportunity to interact with the medical school faculty, and receive feedback on their performance and develop relationships with the staff.