The Abbreviated Life of an SP

A lot of people ask me what I do for a living. Well, to answer succinctly, I’m a full-time college student at Montgomery County Community College and I work part-time (8:00am-3:00pm) as a Standardized Patient for a company that will remain nameless (for confidentiality requirements).

Ahh, now, with that last part, you can see why explaining what I do for a living takes longer than usual. I will try to answer the questions I’m often asked about being a Standardized Patient:
What is a Standardized Patient?:

A Standarized Patient or SP for short, “is a person who has been carefully coached to simulate an actual patient so accurately that the simulation cannot be detected by a skilled clinician.”

Specific to my current situation, I learn a case history and physical findings of a patient case and portray the patient as accurately, consistently and with as much realism as possible for each candidate (12 of them per day).

It is said that an SP represents the “Gestalt” of the person being simulated; not just the history, but the body language, phsyical findings, personality and emotions.

Hey, wasn’t Kramer a fake patient in a Seinfeld episode?

Yes, he was. He portrayed a patient with gonorrhea to earn extra money. And no, I didn’t see that episode I’m sure it was funny though.

Alright, but what’s the purpose of being a Standardized Patient?

Well, quite simply to perform multiple case scenarios within a high-stakes examination for medical students. Medical students are now required to pass these exams to practice medicine in their desired field of study. They pay thousands of dollars for the exam itself and on top of that, travel, sometimes great distances across the country to partake in this exam.

We, as Standardized Patients above all must preserve confidentiality with regard to our particular cases, as not to tip off medical students (candidates) who are coming in for tests. After performing our role, we complete a clinical skills assessment where we recall the exam and document it objectively, accurate and consistently. It is important for our performances to be consistent as to give all candidates an equal and fair exam setting.

So, that’s generally it. I love what I’m doing. My co-workers are mostly actors and other performing artists who do this on the side for additional income, however, if you have an excellent ability to recall from short term memory, memorize a script and are willing, I suggest this to you. I especially recommend being a Standardized Patient to college students. The money is great, the schedule is flexible allowing you to pick the days you want to work.

* job description taken out of the SP Manual authored by my employer *

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11/24/2004 | General, Life | Comments

7 Responses to “The Abbreviated Life of an SP”

  1. Posted by: michaeltoe - 11/29/2004

    I bet you get paid a lot more for pretending to be sick, than I ever do for fixing people’s fucking computers. Go figure.

  2. Posted by: Vincent Brown’s Journal » deviantART Summit - Vacation - 06/15/2005

    [...] nifies my extended vacation from work until our season kicks back up again in August (See; Abbreviated Life of an SP).

    No Comments
    »

    [...]

  3. Posted by: b0x0z - 08/21/2005

    i just had to click that link in your journal on DA. lol sound like a fun thing to do.

    have fun
    ~:b0×0rz:

  4. Posted by: Katrina… Katrina. at Vincent Brown’s Journal - 09/08/2005

    [...] Like Kanye West said, “…America’s set up to help the poor, the Black people, the less well off - slow as possible.” So, to those who criticize the Gov’t. I say, circumvent them and give direct assistance if you’re capable. Otherwise, I’m working still as a Standardized Patient. I’ve got to put a lot of money in getting my car fixed. I’m planning more fun get togethers with Philly Deviants & just enjoying life. — Vince Brown attila@dA: ACTIVITY | GALLERY | PRINTS attila@dAmn: #SENIORS | #ATTILA | #PHILLYDEVIANTS [...]

  5. Posted by: joe - 01/13/2007

    Thanks for the comment on my article. I’m going to look into it.

  6. Posted by: max - 01/15/2007

    interesting

  7. Posted by: Esther Brown - 02/12/2007

    Dear Vincent

    I read your article on working as a “standardized patient”. I found it very interesting and I would like to try it. I would greatly appreciate any advice you can give me and if you think being a paraplegic would effect my eligibility.
    Thankyou
    Esther

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