Standardized Patient Program
The Saint Louis University School of Medicine Clinical Skills Center (C.S.C.) is proud to collaborate and recruit members of the local community to serve as standardized patients (S.P.'s) in medical student education. The C.S.C.’s current S.P. pool consists of more than 80 individuals encompassing a range of ages, ethnicities, gender identifications, and occupations, enabling medical students to acquire the communication skills and practical experience needed in their professional development.
What is a Standardized Patient?
A S.P. is an individual trained to portray a patient case in a consistent manner, meeting pre-set educational objectives designed by medical educators for student training. For example, during an interaction with a student, a S.P. may present the case history in response to questioning by the student and undergo a physical examination. S.P.'s provide a safe and controlled learning environment for students to learn the skills needed for real patient encounters.
Interested in Being a S.P.?
S.P.'s should:
- Be comfortable with their health
- Be comfortable communicating with health professionals
- Be willing to be videotaped for educational purposes
- Be reliable and punctual
- Keep all case information confidential.
- Be comfortable delivering written and verbal feedback to students developing communication and clinical skills
- Be free of any biases against anyone based on gender, race, religion, national origin, physical characteristics, or sexual orientation.
- Want to contribute to the training process of excellent physicians.
S.P.'s are compensated at a rate of $20 to $26 per hour, depending on the educational role and the complexity of the patient portrayal. For example, educational sessions involving history-taking or physical examination only are compensated at a lower rate than educational sessions involving patient portrayal with memorized case details and assessment.
If you are interested in becoming a standardized patient, you can reach out to the Standardized Patient Coordinator via call or text at 314-943-7093, e-mail at patrick.kerwin@health.slu.edu, or click the link below to complete an application.