VinUniversity Medical Simulation Center continues to expand its network of standardized patients.

January 4, 2023

Healthcare workers can’t wait for patients to cry in front of them to learn about empathy… 

In 1963 at the University of Southern California, while searching for innovative teaching methods in medical practice, Dr. Howard Barrows realized that the use of actors to play the role of patients during interaction with students in situations of medical examination and communication brings a positive effect to the student’s learning experience. He called the people who acted as the patients simulated patients. They can be actors or any other person who is well and carefully trained to simulate a sick person with gestures, behaviors, or emotional or personality traits so realistic that even skilled health workers rarely recognize. Over the past 60 years, this method has gradually become popular and recognized as a typical feature of simulation training.

Following the world’s trendy models, VinUniversity Medical Simulation Center from the very first day of its establishment has focused on building a strong and highly qualified team of standardized patients. Up until now, the Center is proud to be one of the very few domestic entities that have a program to train actors for the role of standardized patients of international quality. Trainees receive training in acting according to the training objectives, the peak, and the low points of the simulated situation, how to handle pedagogical situations, and how to give constructive feedback for learners. At the end of November 2022, the Center continued to complete the 3rd Simulated Patient Orientation training course. At the end of the training course, 12 qualified actors were selected to be added to the simulated patient bank of the Medical Simulation Center of VinUniversity. 

During the past 5 years, the standardized patient team of VinUniversity Simulation Center has participated in nearly 2,300 hours of training for more than 2,200 medical staff, nursing students and medical students. 

With its experience and practical lessons in training and quality management of simulated patients, VinUniversity Simulation Center is confident to become a provider of simulated patient training courses for training centers, hospitals, and other entities in need. 

Individuals or entities interested in simulated patient training programs can contact us via email at simcenter@vinuni.edu.vn 

For more information about the Simulation Center, visit the website: https://vinuni.edu.vn/sim/ or Facebook https://www.facebook.com/VinUni.simcenter.