Standardized Patients (SPs) are individuals who participate in simulated doctor-patient encounters at the Duke-NUS Graduate Medical School, Singapore Clinical Performance Centre. These individuals are healthy individuals who are carefully trained by the Standardized Patient Program Trainer to portray patients with specific histories, personalities, attitudes and physical findings. The similarity of these portrayals to real patient situations allows the Duke-NUS students to conduct an actual clinic consultation on standardized patients. These simulated doctor-patient encounters are closely monitored under the guidance of the relevant Duke-NUS faculty members and are recorded/ video-taped for the purpose of learning and assessment.
These simulated encounters enhance the development and assessment of essential clinical skills that are fundamental for doctors. The simulated encounter is also a powerful tool for teaching and assessing communication and procedural skills of medical students. Although this is a relatively new concept to Singapore, it has been used broadly and successfully by top medical schools in the US and Canada since the mid-1970’s.