Application and administration of standardized patient in Nanjing Medical University

Abstract

Since 1993,more than 50 medical universities or colleges in our country have introduced Standardized Patient (SP) in clinical teaching.Taking Nanjing Medical University (NJMU) as an example,this paper analyzes the current situation of SP team and finds,mainly aged between 45 years old and 55 years old,the majority of the social applicants received senior high school education and college education with such initial motives as “feel fresh and hope to have a try”,“hope to have an opportunity to contribute to medical education” and “take advantage of the chance to learn some medical knowledge”.18.7 percent of the applicants are employed,of whom 68.8 percent received college education or higher,43.7 percent have different professional backgrounds such as civil servants,teachers,engineers,administrative staff in enterprises and public institutions.NJMU evaluates and manages the employed SP on grading administration basis.Currently,SP are applied to diagnostics and doctor-patient communication course and they involve themselves in over 10 percent of the total class hours.Additionally,SP are employed in objective structured clinical examination (OSCE),clinical demonstration teaching and residency training.77.1 percent of the students hold a positive attitude to the SP application,maintaining that it improves simulation in classroom teaching,increases the enthusiasm of students to participate in classroom activities,helps students to master teaching content and enhances their inquiry techniques and doctor-patient communicating skills to boost their self-confidence in taking part in clinical practices.Both teachers and teaching administrative personnel also hold a positive attitude towards it.The turnover rate of SP is about 30 percent,indicating that SP team does not stabilize.The motives that SP insist on taking part in the course mainly include “like the job to work as a SP and satisfy myself by pursuing more”,“have the chance to learn something new” and “enjoy being together with young students”.In order to stabilize SP team and improve SP quality,effective measures are to be taken to ensure funding,strengthen training and management,and establish an SP work platform to communicate with each other. Key words: Clinical practice; Standardized patient; Application; Administration