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24 Nov 2022
A chapter on the use of props in medical training simulations for breaking bad news by Lab4Living Associate Professor Kaisu Koski and Kirsten Ostherr has been published in a new book, published by Intellect Books. Making Sense of Medicine: Materiality and the Reproduction of Medical Knowledge is edited by John Nott and Anna Harris.
According to the publishers, this is the first book to seriously reflect on the material relationship between the medical school and reproduction of medical knowledge. Leading historians, anthropologists, educators and designers explore the role of materiality in medical education.
The book chapter is based on Koski’s Human Simulation research and the film Scenes of Disclosure (2017), made in collaboration with Dr. Kirsten Ostherr at Rice University, and the University of Texas Medical School in Houston.
Read more >> Human Simulation project
Standardized patients work with medical students to help them practice their clinical and interpersonal skills. This documentary explores the tension between standardization and authenticity that is involved in this work, particularly in breaking bad news. Ideally, such an encounter is authentic and empathic, yet the interaction is also a highly structured simulation governed by clinical protocols and checklists. In this film, standardized patients of McGovern Medical School portray distinct characters and repertoires of responses, while medical students learn to proceed according to a “breaking bad news” framework. In this film, the filmmaker explores how it feels to tell bad news in first-person.
View: TRAILER
This chapter is the third in a series of articles on Standardized Patients written by Kaisu and Kirsten.
Further reading
- Koski K, Ostherr K. (2020) “I Guess I Didn’t Like That Word Unfortunately”: Standardized Patients’ Unscripted Techniques for Training Medical Students. Simulation in Healthcare.
- Koski K, Ostherr K. (2021) Ambiguity and uncertainty in ‘breaking bad news’ simulation: lessons from standardized patients’ different personality types. Research and Humanities in Medical Education, 8:75-82.
