Written by Lauren Murphy, SIU School of Medicine
Lisa Jones sits in the exam room clutching an oversized sweatshirt at her waist. Her tiny frame is swallowed by a baggy, brown T-shirt and shapeless, gray sweatpants. Her forearm is wrapped in a white bandage. She drops her head, letting her tangled blonde hair fall over her tear-stained face. Her blue-collar husband, who looks as sad as he is frustrated, sits down next to her.
“You’ve got to tell her,” he pleads with his wife. “She can’t help you if you don’t talk to her.”
The young doctor reaches from her stool and gently touches Lisa’s knee. “I’m so sorry you’re feeling this way,” she says. “Can you tell me, are you on any types of medications?”
“That’s the other thing,” her husband interjects. “She quit taking her meds.” Lisa mumbles that the antidepressant wasn’t working. “What’s the point?” she asks. “There’s no reason for me to be here anymore.”
A knock at the door signals the end of the appointment. Just as the doctor steps out of the room, the actor playing Lisa whips her head up, throws back her hair to reveal a grin and begins to sing, ”Grey skies are gonna clear up!” “That was so draining!” she confesses.
Cindy Heady is one of more than 150 standardized patients (SPs) at SIU School of Medicine. The “doctor” is played by first- through fourth-year medical students who must pass 14 clinical practice exams in their senior year of training. Since 1981, the School of Medicine has used actors to facilitate medical training and improve students’ bedside skills.
In April, the School hosted its 30th workshop on training and using standardized patients. Attracting participants from around the world, the five-day workshop not only teaches guests from other medical schools, but also police officers, nurses, social workers, athletic trainers and veterinary school instructors.
“Our workshop teaches participants how to use standardized patients to teach and evaluate the clinical performance, communication and interaction skills of medical students and others who work in the health care field,” explains Mary Aiello, director of the Professional Development Lab at SIU. “By the time our students graduate, they will have seen more than 50 SPs.”
To read more about how SIU uses standardized patients to train medical students, visit www.siumed.edu/oec/standardizedpatients/.