Standardized Patient Program

The Standardized Patient Program is a teaching tool for medical students. People from the community are trained to portray patients with specific problems to help students work through clinical situations - called cases - in a professional and compassionate manner. The program creates an environment where students can improve their clinical and communication skills through interviewing, problem-solving and diagnosing health problems. About 80 percent of U.S. medical schools operate similar programs, which are expected to become standard now that the National Board of Medical Examiners has mandated that by the middle of this decade the medical licensing exam will include observed patient encounters, known formally in academic medicine as Observed Structured Clinical Examinations, or OSCEs.