The performance of standardized patients in portraying clinical scenarios in speech-language therapy

Abstract

Background Standardized patients (SPs) are frequently included in the clinical preparation of students in the health sciences. An acknowledged benefit of using SPs is the opportunity to provide a standardized method by which students can demonstrate and develop their competency. Relatively little is known, however, about the capacity of SPs to offer an accurate and standardized performance across a speech-language therapy student cohort. Aims To investigate the accuracy, reproducibility (consistent performance of each SP across student interviews) and replicability (consistent performance of a number of SPs across each scenario) of SPs portraying three scenarios, each as a parent of a child ..