Twelve tips for running an effective session with standardized patients

Abstract

The incorporation of actors as standardized patients (SPs) to help students achieve learning goals across a range of topics has become widespread in medical education. SPs are integrated into formative and summative objective structured clinical examinations by medical educators and by licensing boards for assessment of competence. While SPs are useful for assessment of dynamic skills, they also have significant utility as an engaging instructional method. Few tools in teaching allow for the breadth of instruction, practice, and assessment offered by workshops involving SPs. A simulated encounter with an SP may be a trainee’s only opportunity to experience working through a particular clinical scenario in an environment that carries no risk of significant harm. Thus, there is immense potential for educational innovation with SPs. The following Twelve Tips piece provides suggestions for harnessing this potential based on available literature and educational experiences of the authors.

Acknowledgement

Dr. Fortin is a coauthor of Smith’s Patient-Centered Interviewing: An Evidence-Based Method, 4th Ed., McGraw Hill Education, New York, 2019; all proceeds from the textbook go to the Academy of Communication in Healthcare. No funding was obtained for this project.

Disclosure statement

The authors report no conflicts of interest. The authors alone are responsible for the content and writing of this article.

Additional information

Notes on contributors

Jaideep S. Talwalkar

Jaideep S. Talwalkar, MD, is Director of Clinical Skills and Associate Professor of Medicine and Pediatrics at Yale School of Medicine, New Haven, CT. He is the editor of the Yale Primary Care Pediatrics Curriculum (pcpc.yale.edu).

Kali D. Cyrus

Kali D. Cyrus, MD, MPH, was previously the Director of the Standardized Patient Program at Yale School of Medicine, New Haven, CT, and is currently the American Psychiatric Association Jeanne Spurlock Congressional Fellow, Washington, DC.

Auguste H. Fortin

Auguste H. Fortin 6th, MD, MPH, is the Director of Communication Skills and Professor of Medicine at Yale School of Medicine, New Haven, CT, and former president of the Academy of Communication in Healthcare. He is the author of Smith’s Patient Centered Interviewing: An Evidence-based Method.