To become a successful medical practitioner, an SP plays a vital role. Especially for seasoned post-graduates, it becomes helpful to understand how you can take care of patients who need real help. So, it plays a very crucial point for practitioners to learn the most from SP encounters during a standardized patient program.
Understanding what SPs are and why you should work closely with them will help you a lot in the future.
Here are a few things to consider when you’re in a US standardized patient program.
SPs are not here to misguide you - SPs may act as a patient but their main motive is to teach you how to behave with a real patient. They are not here to misguide you or mislead you in any way. They are here to help you. So make the most of your sessions with your SPs and ask as many questions as you’d like.
Their motive is to make you a successful practitioner- An SP dedicates a lot of time in preparing each case that helps in fine-tuning your clinical skills. They answer specific questions so that they can give you practical feedback that will help you in the future when encountering real patients at a medical facility. It is advisable to analyze each case and try to identify any loopholes or questions that might arise.
Yes, they are actors - The SPs are not real patients but you need to take this belief out of your mind and take these encounters seriously. It is important to understand that you need to treat your SPs as though they are actual patients. They have been trained to perform like real patients and help medical students to learn from the feedback provided by them.
Have fun - Especially in an SP encounter, it’s okay to not know something and it’s okay if you mess up. What you learn from the program entirely depends on you, build upon it, and use it when working as a medical practitioner in a medical facility.
We hope this blog has helped you in understanding the importance of the Standardized Patient Program and how to make the most of it.
