Standardized patients: a promising tool for health education and health promotion

Standardized patients (SPs) are trained actors who are used to engage health care providers in various types of clinical encounters for the purposes of training and evaluation. In the past, SPs have most often been a tool for training clinicians in "traditional" medical skills such as the taking of medical histories or the conduct of physical exams. More recently, however, SPs have been increasingly used to assist in the development and assessment of psychosocial skills, including those related to patient-centered communication, relationship building, and motivational interviewing. Given this shift, it is argued that the time is ripe for exploring ways that health educators can adopt SP methodologies, whether for providing continuing education for individual providers or evaluating organizations or programs. This article introduces ways of using SPs and discusses strengths and challenges related to various approaches.