Simulation Lab's Use for Pre-Clerkship and Clinical Courses
The Simulation Lab is used not only for examinations for Baylor College of Medicine; it is also used for practice sessions and is used by other institutions. Some of the uses are listed below.
Objective Structured Clinical Examinations
OSCEs are used for teaching and evaluating the clinical skills of medical students before they begin their clinical rotations. The testing situation consists of a number of stations (examination rooms) where standardized patients present a variety of common, yet important patient problems. The medical students rotate through the stations at timed intervals, and the patients evaluate the students’ performance. This examination is administered to first-year students in May/June.
Clinical Performance Examinations
CPXs are used for teaching and evaluating the clinical skills of medical students. The testing situation is much like the OSCE described above. However, this examination is somewhat less lengthy and is administered to second- and third-year medical students. This exam occurs once a month on various days.
Classroom Demonstrations
These demonstrations utilize standardized patients to illustrate specific history-taking and physical examination techniques. Demonstrations may be given for groups of eight to 200 first-year students. The number of SP demonstrations varies from month to month.
Practice Sessions
Practice sessions provide students with an opportunity to practice their history-taking skills or components of the physical exam on an SP before performing them on real patients in a clinical setting. Practice sessions may be attended by individuals or small groups. The number of sessions varies from month to month.
