UCF College of Medicine Seeks Community's Help to Educate New Students

By Zenaida Gonzalez Kotala June 26, 2009

Photo: Jacque Brund

Residents are needed to be "patients" and help teach students about patient care.

Full Photo

The University of Central Florida College of Medicine is looking for community members interested in helping to train the next generation of doctors.

Residents from all walks of life are needed to become standardized patients – people who are specially trained to portray medical conditions from broken bones to heart attacks. Once trained, medical students, under the supervision of faculty, will see the patients for appointments and try to diagnose their conditions.

“Our standardized patients will be instrumental in teaching our medical students how to take proper medical histories and how to conduct thorough examinations,” said Laura Cuty-Ruiz, director of the medical school’s Clinical Skills Center, where the exams will take place. “They will provide our students real-life experience.”

Orientation sessions are scheduled from 9 to 11 a.m. July 9 and from 1 to 3 p.m. July 14.

Interested community members will be trained to act out symptoms and will be given scripts to follow. The sessions will be digitally recorded, and faculty will review the film with medical students and critique their performance often during their medical school careers. As the students learn more about medicine, the patient actors will portray more sophisticated cases. The patients also can fill out forms that evaluate the effectiveness of the medical students’ exams.

A challenge for those who sign up for the job is holding back information. Although patients will be given a complete history and symptoms to memorize, they can only reveal information if the medical student asks the right questions. 

Students, who begin classes Aug. 3, will learn proper techniques, such as taking a patient’s blood pressure. They also will learn how to communicate with patients with diverse backgrounds or challenging personal situations, such as those who don’t trust doctors.

People of all ages with flexible schedules are needed for the program, and no special skills are required. Applications, a demonstration of a standardized patient session and compensation details will be available during the orientation sessions. For more information, call 407-823-1841. Space is limited, so please RSVP by July 6 to Soraya Smith at sorsmith@mail.ucf.edu to ensure a seat.

Standardized patients have been used in many medical schools for decades. According to the American Association of Medical Colleges, standardized patients work in about 95 percent of medical schools today.

UCF Stands For Opportunity --The University of Central Florida is a metropolitan research university that ranks as the 5th largest in the nation with more than 50,000 students. UCF's first classes were offered in 1968. The university offers impressive academic and research environments that power the region's economic development. UCF's culture of opportunity is driven by our diversity, Orlando environment, history of entrepreneurship and our youth, relevance and energy. For more information visit http://news.ucf.edu

< Back to the Newsroom

• About UCF
• Contact UCF
• Internet Privacy Policy
• Policies
• Regulations

© 1997-2008 University of Central Florida © 1997-2008 University of Central Florida

• 4000 Central Florida Blvd. Orlando, Florida, 32816
• 407.823.2000

UCF Stands For Opportunity