The course director, Marícela P. Moffitt, MD, MPH, FACP, and assistant course directors, Maria D. Castro, MD, and Adam Heath, MD, lead years 1 and 2. Throughout the year, guest instructors who are specialists in their field may teach select components of the physical exam such as pediatric and adolescence exams.

Students are divided into two groups and will attend class on either Tuesday or Wednesday afternoon from 1:00–5:15 p.m. Each of these groups is further divided into cohorts of three students and assigned to a physician preceptor. Preceptor assignments remain the same for one year for consistency and to ensure that each student is progressing satisfactorily. Students identified as having difficulty with course activities are referred to staff for additional one-on-one skill building activities, as we want students to feel confident in their skills so that they seek out patient interactions in the community.

Standardized Patient (SP) Encounter

Students can expect to have the following SP encounters during the course and may see some of these problems more than once with different presentations.

  • Abdominal pain.
  • Abnormal uterine bleeding
  • Adolescent risk assessment (HEADSS exam).
  • Back pain.
  • Breast lump.
  • Chest pain.
  • Confusion.
  • Cough.
  • Delivering bad news.
  • Depression.
  • Diabetes
  • Diarrhea.
  • Disability
  • Double vision.
  • Edema.
  • Fatigue.
  • GYN exam.
  • GU exam.
  • Headache.
  • Jaundice.
  • Motivational Interviewing (weight loss).
  • Night sweats.
  • Painful urination.
  • Palpitations.
  • Pelvic pain.
  • Preschool well child.
  • Shoulder pain.
  • Skin lesion.
  • Tremor.
  • Weakness.
  • Weight Gain.

Standardized Patient Encounter – Demonstration Video