Santa on Mackinac Island! Only 7 months till Christmas.

For some time, I have wanted to do Mackinac-Island-specific Christmas note cards.  In other words..."Santa comes to Mackinac Island."  Well, with the help of a fine artist and friend of mine here in Georgia, Margaret Mathews, my note cards are a reality:  Santa at Arch Rock, Santa flying over Round Island Light House, Santa in front of Grand Hotel, Santa at the first New Year's Eve Great Turtle Drop, and my favorite...Santa in front of my house with the bridge in the background; he is delivering a Christmas tree!  The original of Santa Claus over the light house won several awards at the 2012 Spring show of the Middle Georgia Fine Arts Association this month. 

     They're for sale on the Island. Grand Hotel is actually taking a look at them as a gift store item.  I think they'll love Santa on his bike...disguised as a tourist...with Grand Hotel in the background!

      I am selling them for $10.00 plus shipping expenses.  There are ten of them....two of each scene!!  I would love to share them with you!

The final chapter in the life of a standardized patient....

     Once we are trained in a scenario and given a new identity; we are called back again and again to share the symptoms with  the med students. I do two gall bladder "encounters."  For one I am Rosa Harrison and for the other one which eventually involves an hour-long physical, I am Jane Whitmore.  For the palliative care described in the last blog, I am Mrs. Susan Bullard.  Often I go there with a bad knee, and on those days I am Marie Sonderheim looking for a diagnosis of osteoarthritis!  That one is an easy one!

     So, my phone rings, and I hear, "Hey, Jane, this is Ann.  (fill in the blank) is needed two weeks from now.  Are you available?"  If I can possibly work it in I go. Serving as a SP is very rewarding as well as fun! 

     By the way, I told them up front I would not succumb to the OB/GYN exams! One young med student asked me if my mother was still alive.  I wanted to burst out laughing, but that would not have been within my character, so I merely said....no!

     No idea where I will go with this next, but this has been my "ojt"-ing for sharing the interesting and fun things from Mackinac Island.  I head that direction with stops along the way mid-June.

The Palliative Care "encounter"

Palliative care is an area of healthcare that focuses on relieving and preventing the suffering of patients. Palliative medicine is appropriate for patients in all disease stages, including those undergoing treatment for curable illnesses and those living with chronic diseases, as well as patients who are nearing the end of life.

     And we as standardized patients were tasked with presenting to the medical student an appropriate palliative care scenario.  And we did….with aplomb!  My role was the mother whose husband had a heart attack on the golf course and is now in the ICU on life-saving devices.  My daughter, one of three kids, is with me when the doctor comes in to explain to us just what has happened.  I am hysterical and disbelieving while my daughter is trying to care for me and help me make sense of it all.

     The following day my two sons join us.  One is accepting of the fact that the life-saving devices need to be pulled and let dad go which is what he says dad wanted.  The other son, who has been home infrequently, just thinks we should all pray and pray again to bring him back to life and argues that the hospital staff is not doing enough and perhaps we should transfer him.

     Much arguing and confusion ensue for the benefit of the med student who, again, needs to experience as he or she will experience when they hit the “real world.”

Definitely one of the favorite “encounters” of us SP’s, as the opportunity for improvisational acting abounds!! 

And for those of you who really read to the end…..put advanced directives in place today!!!!
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Mercer Med School and Standardized Patients

AN EDUCATION!

Students who chose to do their medical training at Mercer University sign “something” stating that when done, they will practice medicine in Georgia. This policy is wrapped up in their funding somehow and about that I know nothing.  Should the student decide to leave Georgia, it is my understanding that he or she will not receive letters of recommendation.  Interesting?  Enrollment very high and of course most students are from Georgia.

       My first call to be a standardized patient was so exciting for me.  You see I had wanted to do this for some time, but the recommendation for one to become a SP must come from someone else.  One does not just decide to do this and sign up or call; it is actually pretty selective. I drove the 15 miles to Mercer University twice for training, again being paid for it, and I along with others, was trained by staff and physicians.  The training is extremely thorough and two pronged:  patient ailment and accompanying symptoms in addition to how to evaluate the student: questioning procedures, examination, bedside manner, medical jargon, thoroughness, appearance, etc.

       After the encounter, we sit at a computer and evaluate on a program written for just this purpose….very carefully….the student on just about everything from do something with your hair to “You nailed it, dude.  You will one day make an awesome doc.”  We SP’s are an important part of their program, and we are treated extremely professionally. 

      I will close this wondering if all medical schools use standardized patients.  Anyone know?  And in the next writing, I will share a few of the scenarios in which I have been involved.

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On Becoming a Standardized Patient!!

Me, acting and looking much younger!                              Ms. Proscenium Player, 1958

                                                                                           Bloomington High School

Mercer University is a private Baptist School located in Macon, Georgia and about a year ago I joined their School of Medicine as a Standardized Patient.  Standardized comes from the fact that all patients must be the same, and patient comes from….well, the aspiring young doctors need patients with ailments to diagnose.  Most who serve in this capacity…and we are paid for our work…have theatrical backgrounds, as we are acting.  Some “encounters”…as the med school calls them…are more improvisational than others!  There is no script, but there is a scenario, and the training we receive in how to be the patient is extremely in-depth and professional!  Truly awesome!

       So, if you are playing the role of a patient for a med student, and I am doing the same, our ailments, etc. must be as standard as possible so all students are exposed to exactly the same symptoms. Make sense?  Got it? The instructors of the med school, also physicians, can then assess equitably.

       OK, now that you hopefully understand what is going on, I am going to leave you hanging and next writing I will share a few of the scenarios, people involved, and whatever else pops into my brain!!  Oh and by the way, I love doing this!  Let us never forget that I was chosen Ms. Proscenium Player in 1958 as I graduated from Bloomington High School in Bloomington, Indiana….the home of Indiana University. Not sure what exactly that meant, but I still have the plastic trophy! By the way…the Proscenium is the arch that frames the stage!

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