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University of Maryland Schools of Nursing and Medicine Cut Ribbon on Collaborative Standardized Patient Program

February 27, 2018

MEDIA ADVISORY 

WHAT:    Standardized Patient Program Ribbon-Cutting Ceremony

The University of Maryland Schools of Nursing and Medicine opened an expanded and enhanced facility where learners from the University of Maryland, Baltimore (UMB) and across the region refine their clinical and communication skills with professional standardized patients (SP).  Since its original launch in 2000, the Schools have collaborated on the standardized patient program.

SPs are “trained patients” who offer learners an opportunity to practice history and physical exam skills or who present patient/client case scenarios in a clinical setting. The program uses more than 120 SPs – 65 percent are trained actors. UMB’s new interprofessional facility offers enhanced realism of SP encounters through a conscious approach to organizational design so that learners and SPs do not cross paths before their encounters and an environment that looks like a real clinic or hospital setting. The facility also features improved audio/visual capabilities with high-definition cameras, contemporary clinical equipment in the exam rooms, a small-group learning space with equipment for recording, and an SP training room with equipment to record trainings.

Through SP encounters, learners gain essential experiences that are critical to preparing them for clinical practice and for building a skilled workforce and improving health care outcomes. The encounters are controlled, making them safe for both the student and the SP, and can be reproduced consistently for ongoing standardized assessment and instruction.

UMB’s Standardized Patient Program provides clinical education to medicine, nursing, pharmacy, social work, genetics counseling, physical therapy, and other health program students. In addition, UMB makes its facilities available for the training of other health personnel such as paramedics and physician assistants and to other colleges and universities in the region. Following the ceremony, SPs and students will offer tours of the facility.

WHEN:                           3:30 p.m., Thursday, March 1                                                           

WHERE:                          University of Maryland School of Nursing

Museum Lobby, Second Floor

                                          655 W. Lombard St., Baltimore, MD 21201

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The University of Maryland School of Nursing, founded in 1889, is one of the oldest and largest nursing schools in the nation and is ranked among the top 10 nursing schools in the United States. Enrolling more than 1,900 students in its baccalaureate, master’s, and doctoral programs, the School develops leaders who shape the profession of nursing and impact the health care environment.