Learning with Simulated Patients
Simulated participants are used in most of the healthcare professions programs offered at the MGH Institute.
SP roles and activities for each program may include:
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History-Taking Assessment
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SPs are provided with a script and engage in an interview with a student learner based on the scripted case.
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Physical-Exam Skills
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Students practice and demonstrate physical exam skills such as listening to heart and lungs, taking blood pressure, and performing range of motion and manual muscle testing on SPs.
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Patient Communication Skill
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Students learn to engage in open dialogue with SPs in a variety of scenarios from conflict resolution to breaking bad news to motivational interviewing.
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Use of spoken and sign-language interpreters
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SPs with the ability to converse in languages other than English interact with student learners through an interpreter in a simulation setting.
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Evaluation of the elder patient
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Senior SPs interact with students in simulation scenarios that center around healthcare concerns specific to elderly population.
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Working with children/adolescent patients and parents
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Students engage in simulation scenarios focused on the pediatric population, with SPs playing the role of either the parent or the child.
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Working with patients with disabilities
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Students interact in the history and physical examination of patients with disabilities in a controlled environment.
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Working with the LGBTQ Community
- Students interact with SPs in history and physical exam with the focus on meeting the healthcare needs of patients within the LGBTQ community
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OB/GYN and GU Exam Skills
- Specially trained SPs participate in pelvic, genitourinary, rectal and breast exams with students under the supervision of faculty.
- (For more detail on the MGH IHP Gynecological Teaching Associate and Male Genitourinary Teaching Associate programs please contact us)
- Specially trained SPs participate in pelvic, genitourinary, rectal and breast exams with students under the supervision of faculty.
Such a wide variety of clinical and communications skills development require that SPs working with the MGH Institute be highly trained and competent members of the education team.