Medical educators' perception of communication training with simulated patients: an explorative study approach

Medical students' perceptions of the use of simulated patients (SP) in communication training in medicine have been studied intensively, but insights about faculty perception of this type of simulation training remain rare. This study aimed to assess medical educators' perception of the relevancy of SP communication training, as well as its closeness to reality. Medical educators were surveyed by standardized questionnaire and open-ended questions. The questionnaire allowed educators to rate several aspects of the training such as its closeness to reality and relevancy to real-life physician-patient interaction.

Educators' perception of relevance and realism of SP training increases with teaching experience. This appears to be influenced by factors such as internal or external status of the educator, personal experience with communication training during medical studies, as well as medical field taught. Communication training with SP is valued highly by medical educators mainly because of its versatility and broad spectrum of applicability. The wide range of application of SP in medical education seems most evident to senior educators because of their increased amount of experience with physician-patient interaction, whereas junior educators appear often hindered by the aspect of simulation caused by the thought that the patients are "merely" actors.