Outpatient Simulation
The Outpatient Simulation faculty, staff and standardized patients teach and assess a wide array of clinical competencies, such as communication, history-taking, physical examination, counseling, clinical reasoning, patient safety and advocacy. Our team includes patient instructors who train participants on performing breast, pelvic and male urological exams. Early and advanced learners can practice and master stage-appropriate clinical skills in a supportive environment that mirrors the clinical workplace.
This space offers conference, training and debriefing spaces, as well as storage. Outpatient Simulation is also home to the Harvey cardiac examination simulator as well as a set of task trainers, or manikins, to instruct participants on ear, breast, pelvic and male urological exams. Contact us to reserve space.
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Testimonials
Cultivating a Constructive Space
"The standardized patients are great. I feel like they do a good job both in cultivating a constructive space for feedback and in creating appropriate realism."
- M1 Student
Comfortable While Challenging
"The standardized patients are really amazing and work so hard and so well to make us feel comfortable while challenging us to be in new and sometimes difficult situations in the clinic visit."
- M1 Student
Extremely Helpful
"I found the standardized patients to be extremely helpful at making me feel comfortable examining a patient."
- M1 Student
The Actors Really Helped Me
"I thought the outpatient simulation session was excellent. We get to read the presentation of these diseases but seeing them in real life with the actors really helped me remember the key characteristics of the diseases that were presented."
- M2 Student
They did such a good job
"All the credit in the world has to go to the standardized patient actors in simulating the mental disorders. They did such a good job."
- M2 Student
What's a Standardized Patient?
Most outpatient training and assessment involves standardized patients (SPs), actors who are trained to portray patients in a realistic and consistent manner and to reliably assess participants' clinical skills. SPs are able to provide richly detailed verbal and/or written feedback to help participants improve their communication skills. They are trained to rigorously assess history-taking and physical examination technique during Observed Structured Clinical Exams (OSCEs). In teaching sessions, SPs can lead communication skills training or can portray a patient while a faculty member teaches a range of skills to a small group of learners.
Auditions for Standardized Patients
If you are interested in becoming a standardized patient in our program, please email your headshot and resume to: CEC-SPs@northwestern.edu. Auditions are held as needed.