Angela Bokenfohr
Angela Bokenfohr's had schizophrenia, asthma, numerous ankle injuries, broken bones and bruises covering her entire body.
But Bokenfohr isn't short on luck- she works at the University of Alberta's Standardized Patient Program (SPP) where portraying varying medical conditions is the name of the game.
"Being a standardized patient is one of those jobs that never feel like work," she smiles. "I get paid to be someone else for the day. I've been everything from a mental health patient to an inconsolable pregnant woman injured from a car crash with my husband dying in the next room."
A standardized patient (SP) is a healthy person trained to personify the physical symptoms, personal history, emotional characteristics and everyday concerns of a real-life patient. They provide realistic, dynamic and often highly-emotional performances that Bokenfohr says are invaluable when educating and evaluating health science students and professionals.
"SPs provide a safe and effective way to practice skills; from the practitioner's perspective, it feels like there's a real patient with real health issues sitting across the table from them," she says. "They're not just practicing on classmates. The realism enables students and professionals to carry out various assessments in a serious yet empathetic and holistic manner."
The U of A SPP, now located in the new Edmonton Clinic Health Academy (ECHA), has been providing dynamic educational experiences through the use of trained medical actors since 1992. Teachers, researchers, industry and health organizations value the realistic and often highly emotional patient experiences provided by SPs when educating and evaluating students, health care providers and business managers.
Bokenfohr, a recent graduate from the University of Alberta After Degree Nursing Program, started working as an SP three years ago while still in school. She encourages health science students with a dramatic flair to consider becoming an SP because it's a great way to learn more about the health care industry while making money.
"The lessons I've learned while working as and with SPs put me in great standing during my educational journey," she says. "I received feedback from instructors who were incredibly impressed with my seemingly natural ability to 'work from the patient's perspective' and 'glean information that is not normally attained by students."
Now that she's ready to start her nursing career, Bokenfohr says she feels confident in her ability to interact with patients.
"In my work as an SP, I am constantly reminded that every patient is first and foremost a person - not an ailment that needs analysing, not a disease that needs dissecting nor a pathology that needs 'pathologizing'. Patients are people with loved ones, human emotions and a story that deserves to be heard."
Petra Duncan, Standardized Patient Educator for the U of A SPP, is responsible for recruiting and training SPs. She says she is thrilled to hear how working as an SP helped Bokenfohr in school.
"Without the hard work and dedication of the many SPs in the program, our incredible success may never have been recognized," says Duncan from her new office at the Health Sciences Education and Research Commons (HSERC) in ECHA.
"It was wonderful to discover that Angela's involvement has supported her in her educational journey. What a rewarding feeling to know that you can be a part of making a difference in the health education of tomorrow. Just another reason why I love my job."
If you are interesting in becoming or booking an SP, please visit this site or contact petra.duncan@ualberta.ca
About the Standardized Patient Program
The Standardized Patient Program uses standardized patients both on and off campus for teaching, demonstration, assessment, examination and video productions. On campus the SPs can be involved in the training of health care professionals within the following faculties: Medicine, Nursing, Pharmacy & Pharmaceutical Sciences, Dentistry, Nutrition and Rehabilitation Medicine. Standardized patients are interviewed and examined by health care students and may be audio or video taped during simulation.
But Bokenfohr isn't short on luck- she works at the University of Alberta's Standardized Patient Program (SPP) where portraying varying medical conditions is the name of the game.
"Being a standardized patient is one of those jobs that never feel like work," she smiles. "I get paid to be someone else for the day. I've been everything from a mental health patient to an inconsolable pregnant woman injured from a car crash with my husband dying in the next room."
A standardized patient (SP) is a healthy person trained to personify the physical symptoms, personal history, emotional characteristics and everyday concerns of a real-life patient. They provide realistic, dynamic and often highly-emotional performances that Bokenfohr says are invaluable when educating and evaluating health science students and professionals.
"SPs provide a safe and effective way to practice skills; from the practitioner's perspective, it feels like there's a real patient with real health issues sitting across the table from them," she says. "They're not just practicing on classmates. The realism enables students and professionals to carry out various assessments in a serious yet empathetic and holistic manner."
The U of A SPP, now located in the new Edmonton Clinic Health Academy (ECHA), has been providing dynamic educational experiences through the use of trained medical actors since 1992. Teachers, researchers, industry and health organizations value the realistic and often highly emotional patient experiences provided by SPs when educating and evaluating students, health care providers and business managers.
Bokenfohr, a recent graduate from the University of Alberta After Degree Nursing Program, started working as an SP three years ago while still in school. She encourages health science students with a dramatic flair to consider becoming an SP because it's a great way to learn more about the health care industry while making money.
"The lessons I've learned while working as and with SPs put me in great standing during my educational journey," she says. "I received feedback from instructors who were incredibly impressed with my seemingly natural ability to 'work from the patient's perspective' and 'glean information that is not normally attained by students."
Now that she's ready to start her nursing career, Bokenfohr says she feels confident in her ability to interact with patients.
"In my work as an SP, I am constantly reminded that every patient is first and foremost a person - not an ailment that needs analysing, not a disease that needs dissecting nor a pathology that needs 'pathologizing'. Patients are people with loved ones, human emotions and a story that deserves to be heard."
Petra Duncan, Standardized Patient Educator for the U of A SPP, is responsible for recruiting and training SPs. She says she is thrilled to hear how working as an SP helped Bokenfohr in school.
"Without the hard work and dedication of the many SPs in the program, our incredible success may never have been recognized," says Duncan from her new office at the Health Sciences Education and Research Commons (HSERC) in ECHA.
"It was wonderful to discover that Angela's involvement has supported her in her educational journey. What a rewarding feeling to know that you can be a part of making a difference in the health education of tomorrow. Just another reason why I love my job."
If you are interesting in becoming or booking an SP, please visit this site or contact petra.duncan@ualberta.ca
About the Standardized Patient Program
The Standardized Patient Program uses standardized patients both on and off campus for teaching, demonstration, assessment, examination and video productions. On campus the SPs can be involved in the training of health care professionals within the following faculties: Medicine, Nursing, Pharmacy & Pharmaceutical Sciences, Dentistry, Nutrition and Rehabilitation Medicine. Standardized patients are interviewed and examined by health care students and may be audio or video taped during simulation.