Medical student evaluation using augmented standardized patients: preliminary results.
Standardized patients (SPs), individuals trained to realistically portray patients, are commonly used to teach and assess medical students. The range of clinical problems an SP can portray, however, is limited. They are typically healthy individuals with few or no abnormal physical findings. We have developed a functioning prototype that uses sound-based augmented reality to expand the capabilities of an SP to exhibit physically-manifested abnormalities. The primary purpose of this paper is to describe this prototype and report on its use in a study using medical students evaluated in a required annual Observed Structured Clinical Examination (OSCE). Presented is an overview of the prototype, a detailed description of the study, final results from the study, and conclusions drawn about the validity of using augmented SPs as a reliable medical assessment tool.