Standardized Patient Program

ABOUT THE STANDARDIZED PATIENT PROGRAM

What is a standardized patient?

A standardized patient (SP) is a healthy individual trained to accurately simulate the medical history, physical symptoms, and emotional behaviors of real patients. Many SPs are professional actors skilled in improvisation, enabling them to respond dynamically to students and create realistic clinical scenarios.

Since the 1960s, SPs have played a vital role in health science education, helping students build clinical reasoning, communication, and practical skills in a structured environment.

Learn more about standardized patients at University of Western States.

Standardization and assessment

Each SP encounter is designed to teach or assess skills appropriate to the student’s level of training. These simulations are standardized as much as possible to provide the same information and a consistent learning environment for each student. For example, multiple SPs may be trained to portray the same client, so each student is able to have the same learning opportunities. This allows every student an equal opportunity to demonstrate his or her skills in key clinical and interpersonal areas within the UWS program.

Why are standardized patients needed?

“While working with the standardized patient, the learner can experience and practice clinical medicine without jeopardizing the health or welfare of real, sick patients. The value is in the experience of working with a patient. It takes the process of learning a step beyond the books and away from reliance on paper and pencil tests. It puts the learning of medicine in the arena of veritable clinical practice—not virtual reality, but veritable reality—as close to the truth of an authentic clinical encounter as one can get without actually being there, because there is a living, breathing, responding human being to encounter.”

– Peggy Wallace, Ph.D.

Following the Threads of an Innovation:
The History of Standardized Patients in Medical Education

Qualities of standardized patients

There are certain qualities we look for while hiring SPs for our program:

Punctuality
Reliability
Confidentiality
Ability to keep clear boundaries
Willingness and ability to undergo common physical exam procedures
Ability to memorize and provide realistic exam findings
Provide useful and constructive feedback

HOW UWS PROGRAMS UTILIZE THE STANDARDIZED PATIENT PROGRAM

Doctor of Chiropractic

Students perform a series of specified procedures including history, examination, and simulated treatment on a trained standardized patient.

Develops clinical reasoning and communication skills within a safe, structured, and realistic simulated environment
Ensure consistent, standardized learning experiences that are measurable and reproducible
Offers immediate, structured feedback to support targeted skill development
Enables objective assessment of clinical competencies across diverse scenarios
Equip students with the confidence and preparedness needed for real-world clinical rotations

Learn more about the DC program.

Doctor of Occupational Therapy

The Occupational Therapy program utilizes standardized patients as a valuable teaching tool across multiple courses. Students engage with SPs in both in-person and virtual settings, 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 non-verbal 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

To further enhance student readiness, the program will implement a comprehensive practical assessment prior to students beginning their full-time fieldwork. This assessment will evaluate clinical competencies, provide feedback on strengths, and identify areas for remediation if needed, ensuring students are fully prepared for their clinical experiences.

Learn more about the OTD program.

Clinical Mental Health Counseling

The UWS Clinical Mental Health Counseling (CHMC) program uses SPs as a valuable teaching tool in the pre-practicum course. Students are able to connect with SPs from the comfort of their homes via video conference technology for these sessions. This unique opportunity allows students to:

Better understand the structure and flow of a typical counseling session
Practice counseling skills in a safe environment
Complete a new patient intake and conduct subsequent follow-up sessions for the same case over several weeks
Develop interpersonal and communication abilities while building rapport with a client

Learn more about the CMHC programs.

Sports Medicine

The Standardized Patient Lab provides students with valuable, hands-on opportunities to practice and internalize the challenging conversations they will encounter as sports medicine professionals. Through these immersive experiences, students will:

Engage in realistic clinical scenarios within a structured environment, enabling detailed feedback and continuous learning without leaving campus
Navigate a wide range of 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

Learn more about the Sports Medicine program.

Sport and Performance Psychology

The Doctor of Education in Sport and Performance Psychology programs use SPs as a valuable teaching tool in the pre-mentorship course. Students connect with SPs from the comfort of their homes via video conference technology for these sessions. This unique opportunity allows students to:

Better understand the structure and flow of a typical consulting session
Develop consulting skills in a safe environment
Practice assessment, case conceptualization, and intervention design skills over the course of six sessions for the same case
Develop interpersonal and communication abilities while building rapport with a client
Receive detailed feedback from faculty, peers, and SP “clients” in advance of the mentored experience

Each sport and performance SP session is designed to teach or assess skills appropriate to the student’s level of training. These simulations are standardized as much as possible to provide the same information and a consistent learning environment for each student, while still allowing the student to uniquely conceptualize the case. For example, although multiple SPs are trained to portray the same client, students may design different types of interventions to enhance client performance.

Learn more about the Ed.D. in Sport and Performance Psychology programs.

Still have questions?

Standardized Patient FAQ

Is this like being a research subject?

No. Most think of research subjects as people who are taking pharmaceuticals, receiving experimental treatments or following particular diets to have their reactions documented and studied. Being a standardized patient (SP) is very different. Our SPs are trained to portray a patient case for our faculty members to teach and assess students.

Do the students know we aren’t real patients?

Yes. Students know they will be interacting with SPs in clinical simulations. They are told to behave just as they would with real patients when performing interviews and physical examinations.

How do I know what to say?

You will be provided a script and trained to realistically portray the patient. Scripts will outline a complete patient history (present complaint, past medical history, lifestyle, etc.). During training, you will be shown how to move like the patient and how to respond to the physical examination. For example, you may be portraying someone with back pain and will be shown where it hurts and how to react to exam procedures students will likely perform.

Will I need to take my clothes off?

All SPs wear hospital gowns during simulations with modest undergarments underneath, which will not be removed.

What types of physical examinations would be done?

Many physical examinations are common examinations that will be familiar to you. For example, students may: listen to your heart and lungs with a stethoscope; press on your abdomen looking for tenderness or swellings; look into your eyes, ears, nose and throat; take your blood pressure; etc. Additionally, many orthopedic and neurologic procedures will be performed to help determine the cause of injury. None of the examinations involve taking any blood or other samples.

Will I be receiving adjustments from students?

An important part of being an SP is willingness to undergo physical examination procedures. As part of an exam, a student may place you in a position to evaluate how the patient’s spine or other joints are moving. Although this may look similar to an adjustment, it is important to note that a student will never provide an adjustive force as part of a simulation. However, as an employee of the university, SPs are eligible to make appointments for free chiropractic care in the on-campus clinic. At the clinic you receive chiropractic services from student interns under the supervision of a licensed chiropractic physician, and your care may include adjustments.

Do I have to decide whether or not a student passes the test?

No. It would be unfair to expect someone without formal medical training to assess the clinical skills of students. However, part of the SP’s job is to document events of an encounter on checklists and provide feedback on communication and interpersonal skills for the faculty and students to review.

I’ve had some health problems in the past. Can I still be a standardized patient?

Probably. Our students need the experience of working with all types of people, and everyone has some sort of medical history. Our SPs do not have to be in perfect health, but do need to be physically and mentally fit to fulfill the requirements of the position. Job offers for SPs are contingent on passing a physical examination in order to determine if there are any existing physical condition(s) that would impact the ability to accurately and realistically portray specific exam findings or cause the SP to be at risk for injury.

Do I need to know a lot about medicine?

No. We will teach you what you do need to know. We expect SPs have the same level of medicine knowledge as a patient would in real-world scenarios.

How often do I work?

We schedule simulations to meet our program needs, which vary depending on enrollment and specific case requirements. Being an SP is an intermittent, part-time position. An SP might work 20-hours one month and zero hours the following month.

How do you choose who will be hired?

Our program maintains a pool of SPs comprised of various ages, races, and genders. People in all age groups and backgrounds are welcome to apply. This position is best suited for individuals who have some flexibility in their schedules, as the majority of our activities occur during regular business hours.

Standardized patients are selected for simulations based on case specifics and the following:

Skill level and experience: case difficulty and knowledge necessary for simulation type.
Performance history: professionalism, punctuality, attitude, integration of supervisor feedback, successful portrayal of simulated cases and quality of written feedback.
Availability: in accordance with the needs of the university.

Is this job easy?

This job is not easy, and it is not for everybody. 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 body. Being a standardized patient is hard work – but is rewarding and fun at the same time.