Participants act as patients, allowing students to get their first experience at honing diagnostic skills and their bedside manner. They are then seen by a medical student in an examining room. The student asks questions and conducts a routine physical examination in order to formulate an opinion on how best to handle the situation. Each examining room is equipped with a two-way mirror on one wall. Behind the mirror are an observer and a physician.
Physicians are often volunteers from the surrounding community.
You can read books and attend lectures, but it's a different matter altogether when a live person is in front of you. The program is based on an approach developed by Dr. Howard S. Barrows, a neurologist now retired from the SIUC medical school faculty. It was implemented at SIUC about 10 years ago and currently relies on 40 people who act as the patients. A typical candidate is someone who is articulate, has good interpersonal skills, can commit to memory the facts of the case and understands the process of education. Our patients are men and women of all races and all ages.