Clinical Education and Assessment Center
The mission of the Clinical Education and Assessment Center is to provide opportunities for realistic and outstanding clinical education that lead to safe, high-quality, patient-centered care.
The Center is located in a state-of-the-art clinical skills facility where we collaborate with faculty to apply expertise, advanced technology, and standardized patients to teaching and competency assessment. Our staff includes course coordinators for the Doctoring 1-4 curriculum and standardized patient trainers.
Standardized Patient Program
About the Program
Standardized patients are provided to our medical education program through a partnership with the UC Davis Center for Simulation and Education Enhancement. Standardized patients are people trained to portray the characteristics of a real patient during an encounter with a learner. These patient actors play a wide variety of roles ranging from someone needing a routine physical exam to a patient who is dying from cancer. Students interact with the standardized patients in small group settings and clinics, under the supervision of experienced clinicians. This provides a safe environment for students to practice the skills necessary to conduct a successful medical encounter, building their confidence and knowledge before they interact with real-life patients. The learning is experiential and stimulated by interactions with the standardized patient and feedback from faculty and peers.
Become a Standardized Patient
If you are interested in serving as a standardized patient, please visit the standardized patient website and contact the recruitment team at hs-standardizedpatients@ucdavis.edu. The program seeks a diverse cast of standardized patients and desires participants of any age, race, ethnicity, religion, physical type, gender identity and sexual orientation. While many standardized patients are professional actors, previous acting experience is not required and the program welcomes anyone in the community interested in helping students grow as medical practitioners. Standardized patients are employed on an intermittent basis as contractors and paid a per diem rate for their work. The program recruits standardized patients year-round and auditions are frequently held via Zoom, followed by in-person callbacks.
Medical Student Clinical Performance Assessments
The Center works with medical school faculty to develop methods of assessing clinical skills in a controlled environment. The encounters are videotaped, and standardized patients are trained to observe the students' technique and give appropriate feedback to the students. Examples of methods that are used in the medical school curriculum are summarized below.
Year 1
End of Block 1 Exam
Students demonstrate physical exam skills on each other, and are evaluated by a faculty member.
End of Block 2 Exam
Students meet with a Standardized Patient (SP) and take a history and perform a physical exam. The standardized patient scores the student and provides feedback.
Year 2
Clinical Practice Exercise, Block 3 or 4
Students meet with a Standardized Patient and take a history and perform a physical exam. The SP provide feedback.
Objective Structured Clinical Exam, Block 6
Students rotate through a "Clinic" in the center, meeting with several SPs, taking histories and performing physical exams. Student also present their findings to a faculty member. The standardized patient and the faculty score the student and provide feedback.
Year 3
Clinical Performance exam
Students rotate through a "Clinic" in the center, meeting with several SPs, taking histories and performing physical exams. The SP scores the student. Students return to view the video of their interactions, and develop an action plan to improve their clinical skills. Finally, students meet with a faculty member to discuss their performance and personal action plan.