GlossaryGuide

Note: this term is often synonymous with Simulated Patient

Etym. standard – “authoritative or recognized exemplar of quality or correctness” (late 15c.). Meaning “rule, principal or means of judgment” is from 1560s. That of “definite level of attainment” is attested from 1711 (as in standard of living, 1903).

Etym. patient – (n.) “suffering or sick person under medical treatment,” late 14c.

Definition

• A person who has been carefully coached to simulate an actual patient so accurately that the simulation cannot be detected by a skilled clinician. In performing the simulation, the SP presents the gestalt of the patient being simulated; not just the history, but the body language, the physical findings, and the emotional and personality characteristics as well (Barrows, 1993).

• An individual trained to portray a patient with a specific condition in a realistic, standardized, and repeatable way and where portrayal/presentation varies based only on learner performance; this strict standardization of performance in a simulated session is what can distinguish standardized patients from simulated patients.

• SPs can be used for teaching and assessment of learners, including but not limited to history/consultation, physical examination, and other clinical skills in simulated clinical environments Association of Standardized Patient Educators (ASPE). SPs can also be used to give feedback and evaluate learner performance (ASPE).

• An individual who is trained to portray a real patient in order to simulate a set of symptoms or problems used for health care education, evaluation, and research (Society for Simulation in Healthcare).

• More commonly used in the USA and Canada in large part because SPs participate in high-stakes assessments in which SP responses to the learner are standardized. In recent years, as SPs have been included in more formative teaching scenarios, its meaning has become interchangeable with the term simulated patient.

See also: ACTOR, CONFEDERATE, EMBEDDED PARTICIPANT, ROLE PLAYER, SIMULATED OR STANDARDIZED PATIENT OR PARTICIPANT, SIMULATED PERSON.