What are simulated patients?
The Simulated Patient is a teaching tool used since the late sixties in the Anglo-Saxon culture. It consists of a person playing a previously established role of patient (simulated patient) always in the same way (standardized patient). The fact that this person always acts in exactly the same way allows it to be considered an objective and reliable tool with many advantages over real patients in teaching and evaluation.
Simulated patients help students to have a smoother transition into the care of real patients. And on the other hand, the use of simulated patients allows students to interact with patients in settings in which they are normally only observers of reality, such as: emergency rooms, communication of bad news, etc.