Pretending to be a patient is important work at NOSM University

NOSM University says it always needs more people to pretend to be patients.

The northern Ontario medical school uses standardized patients – regular people who act out different medical scenarios – to help medical students practice those interactions in a safe setting.

Patrick Belec, a registered nurse in Sudbury, has been a standardized patient for two years.

"As a health care professional and a previous patient in the hospital, I have had interactions with good and bad doctors," Belec said.

"And it shows, and it changes the care a person will receive, when they have those meaningful and good bedside manner interactions."

Belec said a friend convinced him to become a standardized patient, and he hasn't looked back.

As a standardized patient, he gives medical students feedback on how they're doing as they interact with him.

They play out their scenes in an examination room full of cameras, while a preceptor – a practicing doctor – watches from the next room over, making sure the students get the medical aspects right.

In his two years as a standardized patient, Belec said he has gotten to play a wide range of roles.

"It can range from a patient with abdominal pain to a patient with mental health issues," he said.

He was part of his high school's improv team and taught children theatre as one of his first jobs. But he said previous acting experience isn't necessary to be a standardized patient.

"You can be a lawyer, you could be an engineer, a nurse, or just someone that's retired."

Short on some demographics

But because NOSM is short on standardized patients in certain demographics, Belec said he's had to play people outside of his age demographic, like a 47-year-old man.

"On both campuses, in Sudbury and in Thunder Bay, we are always looking for men from the ages of 18 to 50," said Erica Dbuza, the standardized patient program co-ordinator in Thunder Bay.

"And I know that in Sudbury they're also looking for women between the ages of 30 to 45."

Dbuza said NOSM pays its standardized patients between $19 and $25 per hour, depending on the nature of their case and the sensitivity of the material.

New standardized patients go through an orientation session first, and then do one-on-one training for each case with a co-ordinator before they meet with the students.

"They provide sort of a reassuring presence for the learners to practice," Dbuza said.

"They can make mistakes. They can start over again and it gives them a chance to grow."