State of the art in standardized patient programs: a survey of osteopathic medical schools

In 2001, the authors sent a survey to all 19 schools of osteopathic medicine requesting information about how standardized patients are used for clinical teaching and skills assessment. The purpose of this survey was to identify key people involved in standardized patient programs (SPPs), to gather information on the resources allocated by osteopathic medical schools, to determine the "state of the art" of standardized patient teaching and assessment in osteopathic medical schools, and to assess which SPPs would be available to assist in the development of the new component of the National Board of Osteopathic Medical Examiners licensing examination, the Comprehensive Osteopathic Medical Licensing Examination Performance Evaluation. The survey results revealed that 12 osteopathic medical schools have SPPs that teach and assess clinical skills, including history taking; physical examination (complete and focused); genital, rectal, and breast examinations; physician-patient communication, osteopathic manipulative medicine or osteopathic manipulative treatment. Details of the 12 schools' SPPs are highlighted.