The Best Job I Ever Had

Courtesy: Font Awesome

In Year 1 ASW (After Social Work), I, like thousands before me, sought my fortune in the highly beautiful and highly expensive state of California and moved West with family while navigating new careers. While working to boost my web design skills, working with some clients, and trying to get this blog off the ground, I needed an income boost in the short-term. An angel in the form of my cousin clued me into a part-time gig I didn’t even know existed: the Standardized Patient, more commonly known as the SP.

What is thingy you speak of?

I confess to going, “Standardized whattttt???” when I first heard the name. The SP is basically a human guinea pig for medical students, to work with or work on in order to sharpen their skills for difficult situations they will encounter in the field someday. The SP is given a scenario of varying complexity, and learns it like the back of their hand in order to be able to LARP (Live-Action Role-Play) the scenario accurately and realistically with a med student. The fun comes in the variety: one day you have a headache, the next day you are sobbing your eyes out over marital problems. One day you play an asshole who hates doctors or yells abuse, the next you lay down for an ultrasound examination and don’t do anything but try to avoid falling asleep.

A lil’ history lesson

How in the world did this become a thing you ask? Great question! The SP is a fairly recent invention. An innovative soul down at USC in the year 1963 had a conundrum.¹ Their students’ knowledge was top-shelf, but they were found lacking in working through the human gamut of emotions that can show up at an appointment. The solution? Create a bunch of realistic situations doctors will encounter, and have one person play it out in a mock-encounter. The patient would then provide feedback on what things they thought the doctor did well and what they should focus on improving. Dr. Howard Barrows’ idea exploded from there: other patients were needed as one was no longer enough. Grading methods were devised. Soon other faculty or employees was monitoring via CCTV for more difficult encounters to provide their own feedback on the performance of the doctor-to-be. Word got around, and more and more schools started up their own SP programs.

A Niche Group

A part-time job like this attracts quite the fun, quirky crew. Mainly populated with actors keeping their skills sharp, one also finds retirees looking to stay involved, bartenders looking for some daytime cash, students looking to boost their resume, or freelancers like mua looking to fill gaps. The pay is quite solid without any extra benefits. It’s genuine work but no one takes themselves too seriously. It’s a blast; the work is fast-paced but easy, and you work with a crew of fascinating characters with awesome stories.

My Experience

I was a little worried about even getting offered the job – at least some acting experience is a prerequisite. While I dabbled back in elementary, middle, and high school, I shut down that side of my life pretty early. But apparently I still have some acting sauce, because I did get hired at two different schools. The Powers That Be start newbies off with the easiest cases to see how they roll.

I found the cases themselves to be surprisingly easy – apart from a couple mandatory lines, most of the “script” is just pointers on the character’s background, so you can divulge info in a natural way as opposed to rote memorization of line after line. To my shock, the hardest part was actually giving feedback to the student. I found myself getting so into character that I would forget that the REAL job is providing the student with the good and not-so-good of their own performance. I found that repeating my intended feedback points over and over in my head during the “appointment” allowed me to remember the goods.

Some scenarios get really into it: role-playing rooms set up as fully-functioning offices, with the patient dressed in only a gown. This is not a job for those that aren’t comfortable with physical contact – many situations call for a physical exam to be done. No privates are being whipped out (although there are separate programs at many schools for gynecology or colonoscopy exams performed on willing humans)

1. UMass SP history ↩︎