1. Who is a simulated patient?
SP is an abbreviation for Simulated Patient.
A lay simulated patient is a person who pretends to be a patient (or a relative) by simulating health problems to provide medical students or health professionals an opportunity to develop and practice. At the end of the debriefing, SPs provide feedback in which they constructively assess the students' consultation skills.
2. Should I be an actor?
Some SPs are trained and experienced actors, but most of them are not. You can make a very good SP without ever having been on stage or in a film.
3. Do I act or play myself?
We create a personalised, full patient profile. The profile includes: The cause why you turn up to the doctor, case history, details in your life (like occupation, family). After choosing the best profile for you, we will teach you how to portray the emotional state in which you will encounter the ‘doctor’. We will also show you how to move, behave, and respond appropriately as a patient during a physical examination.
4. Do I need any medical knowledge for this?
No, you do not. We will teach you what you need to know to accurately represent the case.
5. Is my own past medical history important?
SP's past medical history, or current medical problems can be very useful to the SP Programme/training or for the student. If you have an existing, managed illness, please indicate this on the Patient Profile application form.
6. What type of person are you looking for?
We are looking for men and women who have a flexible schedule that allows them to attend students' classes, who can communicate well, learn quickly, and adapt easily to different situations.
7. How are SPs selected?
We look for the following character traits: positive attitude, confidence and precision. We are looking for someone who is willing to help and participate in the training of medical students.
Being an SP is both an unusual and interesting job that requires a high level of discipline. History taking and giving post-interview feedback require intense concentration, while at times up to eight to ten students are present during debriefing. You must be able to respond exactly as a real patient would, and never as yourself.
You must be able not only to maintain the patient's character, but also to remain in the same physical and emotional state throughout the interview and examination, and to do this repeatedly and consistently. You may need to be able to accurately recall the encounter and assess how the listener has affected you as a patient.
8. How often will I work?
This is difficult to predict. We will contact you at the beginning of the semester - according to the needs of the medical school curriculum - and prepare a schedule for that semester. There are no guarantees about the types of cases available, and some SPs are not suitable for certain roles, for certain lessons. We may only be able to fit you in for a few lessons, or not at all over the course of a semester.
9. What is the remuneration?
SPs are compensated after each deployment. More information is coming soon.
10. How to apply?
For more details, please visit the link. Please attach a recent photo to your application form. Don't worry if we don't contact you immediately, your application will be kept on file.
11. Do we need to communicate with Hungarian or foreign students? Do we need some level of language skills?
We have SP assignments with Hungarian and foreign students but no language skills are required, not even afterwards. It is a bonus if you can speak Hungarian, English or German on a minimum B2 level.
12. Is my age important?
Not for us if not for you. It does not matter to us.
13. What type of patient profile do I need to play?
Example: you are a 54-year-old office worker. For about 2 months you have been experiencing pain in your leg and calf, which increases with walking and exertion. The pain occurs after walking about 100 metres, but appears sooner with exertion, climbing stairs, etc. Your feet often feel cold and it is difficult to warm them up in warmer weather. You smoke 20 cigarettes a day and have high blood pressure. Apart from this, you are healthy. You have no shortness of breath, no chest pain, no swelling in your ankles and no palpitations. There is no history of chronic illness or heart disease in your family. You have no problems with your joints.
