Standardized Patient Program

What is a STANDARDIZED PATIENT?

A Standardized Patient, or SP, is a person hired as a part-time employee to portray a patient, family member, nurse, or other role in a clinical simulation case.

SP actors are trained to portray a scripted case for the purpose of teaching and/or testing health profession students and other healthcare trainees in Augusta University educational programs.   SPs portray cases for several different programs in the Medical College of Georgia, College of Nursing, and College of Allied Health Sciences. Our SPs come from all walks of life and range from 18-80 years old. We strive to provide a diverse roster of individuals of all genders, races, ethnicities, and religion, with varied educational and employment backgrounds to reflect the diversity our learners will encounter in their future practice. We accept applications year-round and schedule interviews periodically. Our primary demographic needs at this time are males of any age and females age 20-40, but we welcome ALL applications. Please read through the SP FAQS to find out more about the SP Program.

 
 
Exam Room 1

FAQ's

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  • Great communications skills
  • Reliable & punctual
  • A flexible schedule
  • Willingness to receive direction & constructive feedback
  • A desire to contribute not only to the success of future healthcare providers, but also the quality of care received by their future patients  
  • Memorizing a case script
  • Presenting an accurate case history & portraying symptoms, emotions, etc. in a realistic manner
  • Performing multiple encounters per event with the same focus & consistency
  • Undergo various kinds of physical examinations by students &/or demonstrations by facilitators 
SPs make $20 per hour for training & simulation cases with non-invasive, minimally invasive, & moderately invasive exams. There are a few encounters that include intimate, invasive exams that pay $80 per hour (see below under “kinds of exams” for more details). 
No, SPs work on an ‘as needed’ basis. This works great for someone looking to make some extra spending money or just wanting something to do while their kids are in school or for retirees, but this is not a good fit for someone needing a steady paycheck. 
Our schedule varies from month to month and SPs are booked according to CASE NEEDS. We strive to be fair and impartial when recruiting SPs, but some cases require a specific gender or age demographic, and we must recruit accordingly. There may be a lot of work to offer SPs for several weeks and then nothing for a month or longer. Most events take place Tuesdays-Thursdays, usually from 11:30am-5:00pm. We do have periodic events that take place on Mondays, Fridays, or in the mornings.  
Yes and no. Depending on the case, SPs may be required to put on a gown with their undergarments underneath. For some cases SPs will remain in the clothes they wore to work.   
Surgical scars or health issues could exclude you from being booked for certain cases (i.e. a large abdominal surgical scar and the ‘patient’ is not supposed to have had any abdominal surgeries), but they do not prevent you from being hired.  
New SPs go through training and observation sessions with an experienced SP as their guide during simulation cases. SPs will always receive the case script 1-2 weeks in advance of the event which contains the information needed to do a realistic patient portrayal. There is a training session on Tuesdays where the SP Educator and a SP play out the case and SPs are allowed to ask questions afterwards.  We do not put SPs in any case that they are not comfortable with or do not feel prepared for. 
Not at all.  While we welcome students or retirees from these professions, our SP’s come from an eclectic mix of many different personal and professional backgrounds.  We also welcome those who have dabbled in the creative arts (i.e. theater, film, etc.) but previous acting experience is not a requirement either. 
  • NON-INVASIVE—The student talks to the patient, gathers information, possibly gets written consent for surgery, blood products, etc.
  • MINIMALLY INVASIVE—Includes looking in eyes, ears, nose, throat, taking blood pressure, feeling pulses, testing reflexes, muscle strength, range of motion, etc.
  • MODERATELY INVASIVE—Includes listening to heart/lungs under gown, abdominal exam, abdominal and chest ultrasound, etc.
  • INTIMATE/INVASIVE (NOT REQUIRED)—for females, this could include a breast, speculum, and bi-manual exam, possibly with a vaginal ultrasound.  For men, it could include a prostate, rectal and testicular exam. As noted above, these exams pay at a rate of $80 per hour. NO SP IS OBLIGATED TO PARTICIPATE IN THIS CURRICULUM. 

 

Interested in becoming a Standardized Patient?

Apply For Standardized Patient Position