As part of the reform of the second cycle of medical studies, the faculty has implemented a new method of student evaluation with a Standardized Objective Clinical Examination (OSCE).
This examination, for the first time in France, requires the assistance of willing volunteers for its administration. It is organized several times a year and in real-life situations, in order to accurately measure the clinical skills of medical students. It allows students to be assessed in a situation close to reality so that they can later be ranked and access their third cycle of studies.
To meet these needs, the City of Nice and the Faculty of Medicine aim to establish a partnership involving the residents of Nice so that they become “standardized patients”. To organize these “OSCEs”, the Faculty of Medicine must form several groups of volunteers who wish to become “standardized participants” to successfully conduct these practical clinical exams.
What is a standardized patient?
A standardized patient is someone who takes on the role of a patient, such as a mother bringing her baby, to play a predefined role with great detail. Becoming a standardized patient involves three 2-hour training sessions and having the free time to sometimes spend entire days at the university to conduct exams.
This concerns students from the 3rd to the 6th year of medical studies. These OSCEs aim to humanize the education of future doctors and put them in a real-life context.
Currently, 30 seniors have already joined this initiative, but with the increasing number of medical students, the number of standardized patients needs to increase. This is why the partnership will allow for the dissemination of this information in LAEPs, nurseries, and schools. Furthermore, the City is committed to rewarding the engaged volunteers.
