No, this is very different. Medical research subjects are thought of as people who take experimental drugs or are undergoing medically designed behavior changes such as diet or exercise programs and then have their reactions studied. We use standardized patients to simulate situations for the students such as:
- Meeting a patient for the first time
- Doing an interview about smoking cessation
- Giving bad news
- Explaining medications
- Conducting a routine medical history interview
- Performing physical examinations
- The physical examinations are much like those performed in a doctor’s office. The student may:
- Listen to your heart and lungs with a stethoscope
- Press on your abdomen to identify any tenderness or swelling
- Look into your eyes, ears, nose and throat
- Take your blood pressure
- Take your pulse
- Check your reflexes
- Assess your muscle strength