Coaching Standard Patients: For Use in the Assessment of Clinical Competence

Wallace (medicine and curricular resources and clinical evaluation, U. of California San Diego) discusses how to coach standardized patients when working with medical students. She articulates best practices and methods to use when preparing them to perform as actors in clinical skills examinations and chooses the methods that produce the highest standards of performance authenticity and accuracy. She reviews the skills necessary for coaching, including knowledge of the dramatic arts and the fundamentals of acting and directing. The second section focuses on how to find the right standardized patients and train them, as well as the procedures for the Practice Exam. Sample documents are included. The book is intended for coaches and others in medicine. Annotation c2007 Book News, Inc., Portland, OR (booknews.com)