The Contribution of Simulated Patients to Undergraduate Medical Education: A Pathway to Educational Excellence

The aim of this narrative review is to explore the state of the art in using simulated patients' methodology, highlighting its benefits and advocating for its widespread adoption as a cornerstone of excellence in training. The use of patients in undergraduate medical education is essential and recommended at an early stage of medical training. However, using real patients is accompanied by several difficulties, such as patient privacy and the unpredictability of patient conditions. Simulated patients are now an integral part of medical school faculty. They should be viewed as some of their most valuable collaborators as their spectrum of activity has been progressively expanding, and they are taking on new challenges and responsibilities. Its efficient use leads to the development of technical competence in performing procedures and the ability to make decisions about diagnosis or treatment. They are also essential in training the ability to communicate efficiently with patients and work as a team. The use of simulated patients to teach physical examination has dramatically expanded its use, with emphasis on training in gynecological or breast examination in women or genital and rectal examination in men. The possibility for the student to receive feedback from the simulated patient during or after the simulation represents a unique opportunity for the student to understand the 'patient's' point of view and reflect on their limitations and opportunities for improvement. Using simulated patients in medical assessment ensures that students are exposed to the same clinical scenario and evaluated according to the same criteria. The simulated patient, acting as a performance evaluator, provides a level of reliability identical to that of clinical evaluators, enhancing the credibility of the assessment process. The development of hybrid scenarios allows the combined use of simulated patients and simulators to increase the realism of the simulation scenario. From an administrative perspective, using simulated patients in medical education involves recruitment and training, and the biggest challenge is the financial resources it requires. [...].