Patient Actor

PRIMARY ACCOUNTABILITY: 

A Standardized Patient (SP) is a person who has been coached to accurately and consistently recreate the history, personality, physical findings, and emotional structure and response pattern of an actual patient at a particular point in time. SPs are interviewed and examined by both male and female healthcare learners and may be audio or videotaped during simulation. SPs will be trained by an assigned educator for a given case on standardized role portrayal and scoring in order to each learner with a similar experience for practice and assessment. During teaching or assessment activities SPs should expect that the learner may interview, counsel, and/or perform noninvasive physical exams. These simulated patient encounters are designed to enable experiential learning by offering learners the opportunity to develop, practice and enhance their medical interviewing skills, communication skills, and physical exam techniques.   

SPECIFIC RESPONSIBILITIES: 

• Memorize a case script detailing specific emotions, behaviors, and disease signs/symptoms for presentation during simulated learning situations 

• Present case information in a standardized manner, as elicited by healthcare students during simulated interactive patient history and/or medical examinations 

• Remain in a specific patient character as trained when responding to student questions 

• Accurately and consistently remember encounters with students for the purpose of scoring student behaviors with standardized checklists 

• Maintain confidentiality of information related to cases, student behaviors, and feedback evaluations 

• Provides constructive verbal and written feedback within a structured format  

• Work in a professional manner when interacting with learners, faculty, supervisors, and peers 

• Accept ongoing feedback from facilitators and incorporate into case simulation 

• Be willing to be audio and videotaped during simulations 

• Adapt to quick changes and work in a dynamic environment  

This role description is a general description of the essential job functions.  It is not intended to describe all the duties the Standardized Patient may perform. 

KEY COMPETENCIES 

• Integrity– You instill trust through your own actions and follow through on commitments. You demonstrate a high standard of ethics and treat others fairly and consistently.  

• Team Engagement – You create a climate in which others want to do their best and feel personally invested. You engage in shared decision‐making and invite input from team members. You convey trust in people’s competence to do their jobs and recognize great performance. You trust others by delegating responsibilities based on their strengths. You promote others to take initiative. 

• Collaboration – You foster commitment, team spirit and trust. You consistently develop and sustain collaborative working relationships, including across functions and departments. You foster an inclusive culture of respect for individual and cultural differences.  

• Coaching and Developing – You ensure professional development and engagement of diverse staff, as well as leadership succession, by giving clear, motivating, and constructive feedback. You provide coaching to promote individual development. You generously share your expertise and experience with others. 

• Resilience and Adaptability – You deal effectively with pressure, competing demands, and interruptions while maintaining focus and optimism under adversity. You are open to change and new information, adapting rapidly in response to changing conditions and unexpected difficulties.  You solicit and act on feedback, learning from experience.  

• Service Delivery – You place patients and colleagues at the center of your priorities.  You possess a high sense of urgency and ownership in solving problems.  You look for and identify opportunities to enhance the level of service you and your team provide to others. 

• Quality and Process Improvement – You drive for continuous improvement. You work with your team to identify ways to streamline and improve efficiency of work and service delivery. You ensure that defined processes, quality standards, and best practices are adopted swiftly and updated regularly. 

• Continuous Learning Mindset - You expand your ability to learn by regularly upgrading your skills and increasing your knowledge. These skills are required to successfully adapt to changing demands.  You view your experiences as potential learning opportunities and re-examining assumptions, values, methods, policies, and practices. 

• Communication – You seek to understand others’ point of view. You foster open communication/ dialogue without intimidation. You communicate clearly and convincingly and tailor your message to your specific audience. You speak and write clearly and concisely. You encourage others to express their views, even unpopular ones. You see it as your mission to keep people up to date with information 

SUPERVISORY RESPONSIBILITIES: 

• None  

EDUCATION and/or EXPERIENCE:  

• High School Diploma or equivalent  

Minimum Qualifications 

• Ability to improvise, adapt to highly dynamic environments, and learn new skills 

• Excellent communication and interpersonal skills  

• Good memory and recall skills  

• Reliable, punctual and dependable 

Required Licenses  

• Valid driver’s license required 

Preferred Qualifications 

• Acting experience is a plus but not required 

• Healthcare background  

COMPUTER SKILLS: 

• Demonstrates proficiency with Windows