The Phase IB will be a standardized patient
assessment. By way of introduction, standardized patient assessments have been used
in medical education for many years. Beginning this year the National Board of Medical
Examiners (NBME) and the Federation of State Medical Boards (FSMB) have added standardized
patient examinations to the requirements for the United States Medical Licensing
Exam (USMLE) for all medical students in the United States and have been using this
type of exam for the Educational Commission for Foreign Medical Graduates (ECFMG)
Certification for several years. The standardized patient–based testing method was
established more than 40 years ago, and its procedures have been tested and validated
in the
United
Statesand internationally. UCSD has a long tradition of standardized patient assessment,
and has a state of the art facility dedicated to this end on the campus of the medical
school.
This one day experience will include a total of 10 patient encounters. History taking,
physical examination, development of an assessment and plan, physician-patient interaction
and communication, and information sharing will be assessed. Standardized patients
are persons carefully selected and rigorously trained to portray actual patient
case scenarios and record examinee behaviors following each encounter. The standardized
patient case scenarios have been meticulously selected and developed to represent
clinical entities that you would see in a primary care practice including male and
female patients. Practitioners will be given 15 minutes to interact with each of
the 10 patients, then 10 minutes to complete an inter-station exercise that can
include, writing a “SOAP” or “SOAPE” note, interpretation of tests (x-ray, EKG,
etc.), development of a differential diagnosis, or the like. The patient encounters
require that practitioners act in the same manner they would with any “real” patient
they might encounter in a primary care practice - including performance of physical
examination skills with the exception of genital, rectal, pelvic, female breast
and corneal reflex exams.
Each exam room consists of standard equipment including examination table, diagnostic
instruments, gloves, sink, and all medical equipment and supplies needed during
the encounters.
