The Morchand Center for Clinical Competence

The Morchand Center is the home of the Standardized Patient Program. Standardized patients are actors who have been trained to simulate the signs and symptoms of disease realistically and provide feedback to candidates on their performances.

The Morchand Center creates and runs programs for students across the spectrum of learning levels, including:

• Undergraduate Medical School
• Residency
• Secondary Education (Jr. HS and HS)
• Non-Medical Health Care Professionals
• Trainings for those in Non-Health-Care Fields (e.g., Standardized Client Training for Law Students, Mediation and Dispute Resolution Skills, Language Learning Assessment)

Program Themes

• History Taking Training and Assessment including: basic, complete history; focused history (based on a specific complaint); domestic violence; sexual history, using a medical interpreter; exams in Spanish
• Physical Exam Skill Training and Assessment including: complete PE, focused PE (based on a specific complaint); specific organ system (ie., Musculoskeletal, HEENT, etc.); using a medical interpreter; exams in Spanish
• Interpersonal Communication Skill Training and Assessment including: basic communication skills, telling bad news, cultural competency; HEADSS Assessment; counseling skills (diet, exercise, smoking cessation, safe sex, et al.); using a medical interpreter; conducting patient interviews in a foreign language

Major programs sponsored by The Morchand Center that utilize standardized patients include:

End of Third Year Assessment - This day-long program has run continuously since the Center's inception. A clinical examination administered to all third-year medical students in the New York City Consortium, this program evaluates physical examination, history-taking, communication, diagnostic reasoning, test selection, and test interpretation skills. Each student is videotaped in seven patient encounters representing the various medical disciplines. The completed tapes and test scores are provided to the candidates and their schools for review and recommendations.

Second Year Clinical Skills Assessment - This second-year program that evaluates students' history-taking, physical examination, and oral and written communication skills, and clinical and ethical reasoning to assure competency. Students take a comprehensive hour-long history and perform a physical examination. Students receive immediate verbal and written feedback from their "patients" and/or preceptors regarding their strengths and weaknesses in those particular areas. Those in need of remediation are then teamed with specially-trained faculty members who provide individual retraining.

PGY-1 House Staff Assessment - Offered since 1995, this program assesses the competency of incoming American and international medical graduates (PGY-1s) in the areas of clinical skills, communication, and English proficiency. The cases focus on pain management, drug interactions, and substance abuse, all of which present behavioral and pharmacological challenges.

Other Program Assessment Topics Include:

• Third-Year Clerkship-Specific SP Programs
• Breaking Bad News
• Ethical Dilemmas in Medicine
• Geriatric Palliative Care
• Team Training in Geriatric Care
• Medical Needs of Culturally Diverse Populations
• Organ Donation Consent Coordinator Approach Training
• Communicating a Medical Error
• Obtaining Consent for Autopsy
• Counseling Patients on Pharmaceutical Advertising
• Employee Customer Service Training
• Emergency Procedure Drills
• End of Life Issues Counseling: Advanced Directives/Health Care Proxy/Organ Donation
• Genetics Counseling
• Gender Issues

Program Learning and Assessment Formats Include:

• Multiple Case Exams (Mid-terms, Final Exams)
• Time-In-Time-Out
• OSCE Stations
• Practicum Sessions
• Team Training
• Immediate One-on-One Feedback
• Telephone Encounters

For further information please contact The Morchand Center at (212) 241-0612. If you would like to receive an information packet by mail please e-mail Erin McGuigan at erin.mcguigan@mssm.edu.