Training actors as standardized patients

Abstract

Traditional medical education hasmostly applied written or oral examinations to assess professional education and training. However, it is doubtful whether these examinations can reflect the actual clinical competence of medical students. Students must show clinical ability in clinical situations rather than through written texts [1]. The focus of clinical learning should move from textbooks to actual patients because students understand that they can learn actual clinical skills only by interacting with patients and their families [2]. Using standardized patients (SPs) in teaching and assessment help students become familiar with clinical settings, thus benefiting not only their test scores but also patients and their families [3]. This helps fulfill the saying “Good teaching, as well as good mentors, cultivate good doctors.” The performance quality of an SP determines the reality of an entire clinical skills examination. The SPs, scenario design, and particularly, the SP training process, are crucial factors that contribute to the quality of the performance [4]. A clinical skills examination, which tests interpersonal and communication skills, is time consuming, and probably extremely repetitive, as it must be conducted several times a day. Therefore, the accuracy and consistency of the performance are themain factors contributing to the fairness and impartiality of the examination. As a result, SPs should be trained to retain their physical endurance and psychological stability during consecutive performances. This is similar to the