Standardized patients help medical students learn

Working with standardized patients has significantly helped medical students like Taylor Wight. Rather than just reading about what it's like to work in a hospital, she's gained hands-on, real-world experience at the College of Medicine Rockford by interacting with people who portray patients.

"I have gained and worked many of the soft and technical skills that are important for successfully treating patients through standardized patients encounters," Wight said.

A standardized patient is trained, coached, and pretends to be a patient, family member or another healthcare role. These individuals help students learn what it takes to care for a real patient in a natural environment.

Miscilda Vital, MD, program director of the standardized patient and simulation programs at the Rockford campus, said standardized patients help students develop essential skills like learning patient history, performing examinations, communicating with empathy, delivering difficult news and building trust with patients.

"Standardized patients are carefully prepared to present the same case to every learner, allowing students to practice their clinical and communication skills in a realistic, safe and supportive environment," she said.

Wright said simulation is an important part of her medical education.

"Being able to successfully collect patient information and perform correct maneuvers in a way that is patient-centered and makes them feel safe and heard is essential," she said.

Laurene Logsdon has worked as a standardized patient for about 12 years.

"I love working with the students, watching them become doctors," Logsdon said. "The best part is seeing the first-year medical students evolve from their first encounter, which is really special."

Standardized patients are given a script before each encounter. They must memorize the specifics of their simulated medical encounters and be able to improvise.

"We're sent a case and given a few days to familiarize ourselves," Logsdon said. "We meet as a group to go over the case before reading it on our own. On the day of the encounter, we make sure all the details are down, and we're ready to go."

Standardized patient sessions range from a couple of hours to a full day, depending on the need and activity. Encounters involve working with a handful of students, and standardized patients must maintain confidentiality about simulation content and learner performance.

Standardized patients help show the person behind the diagnosis, Vital said. After each encounter, standardized patients provide feedback from the patient's perspective.

"This makes standardized patient programs an invaluable part of preparing compassionate, competent and patient-centered healthcare providers," she said.

Wright said these simulated patient interactions are vital for students to hone the same skills they will use in the medical field.

"The more opportunities students have to stretch their patient interview and exam muscles now means stronger and more developed student doctors come time for clerkship rotations and real patients," she said.

Learn more and apply to be a standardized patient on the Rockford campus.

- Jermaine Pigee, College of Medicine Rockford