Blurring the Line Between Standardized and Real Patients: Twelve Tips for Improving the Authenticity of Standardized Patient Encounters

The standardized patient (SP) encounter is an integral curricular activity of undergraduate medical education (UME), guiding medical students towards competent and compassionate clinical practice. However, their evaluative nature within medical curricula has masked these encounters’ original intentions and transformed them into performances rather than genuine interactions. To minimize this derailing, we developed 12 tips, each correlated with Accreditation Council for Graduate Medical Education (ACGME) competencies, for improving SP encounter authenticity among students, SPs, and faculty alike. By re-emphasizing empathetic clinical reasoning, SP encounters will be able to better prepare students for the real patient interactions of clerkships and beyond.