Standard Patient Program
Practice face-to-face clinical reasoning and communication skills with trained actors in-person or online in a controlled, supportive, and supervised setting.
What Is the Standardized Patient Program?
The Standardized Patient (SP) Program brings learning to life through realistic simulations. SPs are individuals trained to accurately portray the medical history, physical symptoms, and emotional behaviors of real patients.
Each SP encounter is designed to teach or assess skills appropriate to your current level of training. Simulations are standardized as much as possible to provide each student with the same learning experience; for example, multiple SPs may portray the same patient or client dealing with the same issue to allow all students an equal opportunity at assessment.
How Standardized Patients Support UWS Programs
Standardized Patients play a central role in the Doctor of Chiropractic program. Students perform a series of specified procedures with SPs, including patient histories, physical examinations, and simulated treatments. These encounters offer a number of benefits, including:
- Developing clinical reasoning and communication skills in a structured, realistic simulated environment
- Consistent, standardized learning that is measurable and reproducible
- Immediate feedback to support targeted skill development
- Objective assessment of clinical competencies across multiple scenarios
The Doctor of Occupational Therapy program utilizes standardized patients as a valuable teaching tool across multiple courses. Students engage with SPs in person and online, allowing them to:
- Enhance clinical reasoning by assessing occupational performance and identifying client-centered goals
- Practice therapeutic communication in a safe and supportive environment
- Conduct evaluations using standardized assessments, observational techniques, and patient interviews
- Develop intervention strategies tailored to the client’s needs and occupational roles
- Improve documentation skills by writing SOAP notes, evaluation reports, and treatment plans based on their SP interactions
- Simulate interactions with challenging behaviors to practice appropriate communication strategies and nonverbal responses in a safe, low-stakes environment
- Engage in mental health scenarios to ensure all students have equal opportunities to practice mental health assessments with clients from a variety of health backgrounds
Standardized Patients are involved in the pre-practicum course in our Clinical Mental Health Counseling programs. Students connect with SPs via telehealth, developing competence with:
- Better understanding the structure and flow of a typical counseling session
- Practicing counseling skills in a safe environment
- Completing a new patient intake and conducting subsequent follow-up sessions for the same case over several weeks
- Developing interpersonal and communication abilities while building rapport with a client
Students in the Sport and Performance Psychology doctoral program engage with SPs in the pre-mentorship course. Students connect with SPs online, developing initial comfort and competence with:
- Understanding the structure and flow of a typical consulting session
- Interpersonal and communication abilities while building rapport with a performer
- Initial client assessment and intervention design
- Implementing mental skills interventions in a safe environment
- Managing real-world challenges associated with working in high-pressure environments
Students in our M.S. in Sports Medicine program can practice clinically-focused situations they may encounter in their careers with SPs at UWS. Through these immersive experiences, students can:
- Engage in realistic clinical scenarios within a structured environment, enabling detailed feedback and continuous learning without leaving campus
- Navigate targeted clinically relevant scenarios—such as delivering news of a season-ending injury to an athlete or managing high-pressure interactions with intense coaches and teammates—preparing them for the real-world challenges of sports medicine
- Interact with trained simulation professionals, allowing them to fully immerse themselves in the role of a sports medicine clinician and develop critical interpersonal and decision-making skills
How to Become a Standardized Patient
Qualifications
We seek individuals who can reliably and accurately portray patient scenarios in a professional learning environment. Ideal candidates demonstrate:
- Punctuality and reliability
- Strong communication and interpersonal skills
- Ability to maintain confidentiality and professional boundaries
- Comfort undergoing common physical exam procedures
- Ability to memorize case details and present them consistently
- Willingness to receive training and feedback
- Ability to provide clear, constructive feedback to students
Roles and Responsibilities
- Portray patient histories, symptoms, and emotional behaviors based on provided case materials
- Participate in clinical simulations in-person and/or virtually
- Respond dynamically to student interactions while maintaining consistency across encounters
- Allow students to perform appropriate, noninvasive examination procedures
- Provide structured feedback to students on communication and interpersonal skills
- Follow program guidelines to ensure a safe, respectful, and standardized learning environment
What You Can Expect as a Standardized Patient
Our SPs are paid hourly with rates varying by case complexity. This is an intermittent, part-time position, with scheduling based on program needs that vary month to month. All SPs must complete training to prepare for simulations. Visit our job openings to explore current opportunities and details.
Apply to Become a Standardized Patient
Ready to get started? Complete the form below to express your interest in the UWS Standardized Patient Program. Our team will review your submission and contact you about next steps.
Frequently Asked Questions for SPs
Yes. Students know they will be interacting with SPs in simulated cases. They are told to behave just as they would with real patients or clients when performing interviews and physical examinations (when indicated).
You will be provided a script and trained to realistically portray the patient or client. Scripts include details such as symptoms, medical history, and lifestyle.
During training, you’ll be shown how to respond to questions and physical exam procedures. For example, if you are portraying someone with back pain, you will be shown where it hurts and how to react to exam procedures students are likely to perform.
Training for remote cases focuses more on character development, emotional expression, and how to improvise responses to the student. Remote cases often require more advanced simulation skills and often use SPs with improv experience.
All SPs wear hospital gowns during on-campus simulations with modest undergarments underneath, which will not be removed. For remote cases using videoconferencing platforms (e.g., Zoom), SPs wear casual, everyday clothing.
Physical examinations take place during on-campus simulations, while remote cases are conversational in nature.
Many physical examinations are common procedures that will be familiar to you. For example, students may listen to your heart and lungs with a stethoscope; check your blood pressure, press on your abdomen to check for tenderness or swelling; or look into your eyes, ears, nose, and throat. Orthopedic and neurologic tests may also be performed to help determine the cause of injury.
No procedures involve blood draws or taking other samples.
As part of an exam, a student may position you to evaluate how the spine or other joints are moving. While this may look similar to an adjustment, students do not provide adjustive force during simulations.
However, SPs are eligible to schedule free chiropractic care in the on-campus clinic. At the clinic, care is provided by student interns under the supervision of a licensed chiropractic physician and may include adjustments.
No. Standardized patients are not responsible for determining whether a student passes.
However, you may be asked to document key elements of the encounter using checklists and provide feedback on communication and interpersonal skills for faculty and students to review.
This job is not easy, and it is not for everyone. It requires concentration and accurate recall while being interviewed and examined. You must be able to maintain not only the patient’s character but also simulate their physical condition during the entire encounter (15-60 minutes).
After the encounter is over, you may be asked to record specific details about the student’s performance and provide feedback directly to the student. Most frequently, SPs will be asked to simulate a case many times in succession. This job takes energy, discipline, and concentration. Additionally, SPs must have a high level of comfort with their own bodies. Being a standardized patient is hard work—but it is rewarding and fun at the same time.
Probably. Our students benefit from working with individuals who have a wide range of health backgrounds, and SPs do not need to be in perfect health.
However, SPs must be physically and mentally able to safely perform the requirements of the role. Job offers are contingent on completing a physical examination to ensure there are no existing physical condition(s) that would impact your ability to accurately and realistically portray specific exam findings or cause the SP to be at risk for injury.
No. We will teach you what you need to know. We expect SPs to have the same level of knowledge about medicine or mental health conditions that a patient would have in real-world scenarios.