Standardized Patient Program       
Office of Medical Education
School of Medicine
University of California, Davis

Contacts:

Kendra Harris, Director of Clinical Skills Education & Assessment, (916) 734-4664
Haydee Pineda-Johnson, Standardized Patient Coordinator, (916) 734-5201
Michele McCullough, Standardized Patient Coordinator, (916) 734-3445

Most authorities agree that the ability of a clinician to develop rapport with a patient, the skill to perform an organized physical examination, and the competency to gather an accurate and concise history are the hallmarks of a successful clinician.  The School of Medicine at the University of California, Davis has developed a program called the Standardized Patient Program to teach and evaluate these skills.

Standardized patients (SP) are actors who have been carefully trained to portray a patient scenario during an encounter with a learner.  The SP roles may be simple (a patient who comes to the clinic for a routine physical), or quite complex (a patient who is dying of cancer).  Students interact with the standardized patients in small group settings and clinics, under the supervision of experienced clinicians.  This provides a safe environment for students to practice the skills necessary to manage a medical encounter without the stress, fear, or anxiety inherently present at the beginning of such learning.  The learning is experiential--stimulated by interactions with the standardized patient and feedback from faculty and peers. 

The Standardized Patient Program also works with medical school faculty to develop methods of assessing clinical skills in a controlled environment.  The “clinical skills exam” is a unique environment where students interview and examine standardized patients in a “mock clinic.”  The encounters are videotaped, and standardized patients are trained to observe the students’ technique and give appropriate feedback to the students.

If you are interested in learning more about the program, please call us at (916) 734-5201.  Our standardized patients include people from all age groups.  Acting experience is desirable, but people with stable clinical findings (such as a heart murmur) who do not have acting experience are also needed.