Northern Ontario School of Medicine looking for a few good actors
If you can act and have some extra time on your hands, the Northern Ontario School of Medicine (NOSM) could use your help.
The school is looking to recruit 65 'patients' as part of its Standardized Patient program.
"They are mainly used in our first- and second-year clinical skills program," said coordinator Erica Dzuba. "We are teaching our medical students how to do things like proper interviews, so how to do an interview say about a stomach issue, leg pain even medical issues, as well. Standardized patients also just do physical exams so they act as a patient model -- or a warm body if you want to look at it that way."
It's a paid position and they're looking for roughly 40 people at the Sudbury campus and another 25 in Thunder Bay.
It's for anyone over the age of 18 and for all genders. Applicants who are black, Indigenous, a person of colour, bilingual and male are also being encouraged to apply.
"So students get to practise blood pressure, again listening to a heart, knowing how the heart sounds are, listening to breath sounds and the lungs and, for example, doing a musculoskeletal exam," said Dzuba.
A participant's personal medical information stays private. Standardized patients will follow a script and a specific set of symptoms.
Div Patel worked as a standardized patient while he was an undergraduate student at Laurentian University. It helped him follow his dream to pursue an education at NOSM himself as a medical student.
"If you're uncomfortable with playing a case, they accommodate to you with that aspect so you don't have to take on any case that you're not comfortable with," said Patel. "They are very open in that aspect of trying to make sure that you're aware with what you have to do."
Patel credits the program in helping him work on his communication skills.
"It really solidified my understanding of physicians and, you know, how they always have to be competent communicators so you're always applying the theory in-person and making sure you're communicating with patients/standardized patients," he said.
NOSM said this is about helping medical students with their education so they can help us, eventually, once they graduate.
For more information on how to apply, click here.
CTVNews.ca Top Stories
BREAKING Alice Munro, Nobel literature winner revered as short story master, dead at 92
Nobel laureate Alice Munro, the Canadian literary giant who became one of the world's most esteemed contemporary authors and one of history's most honoured short story writers, has died at age 92.
Latest updates on air quality alerts, and when the smoke may reach Ontario and Quebec
Wildfires have led Environment Canada to issue air quality advisories for parts of B.C., Alberta, Manitoba, Saskatchewan and the Northwest Territories, as forecasters warn the smoke could drift farther east.
Are these Canada's best restaurants? Annual top 100 list revealed
The annual list of Canada's top restaurants in the country was just released and here are the places that made the 2024 cut.
Attack on prison van in France kills 2 officers, inmate escapes
Armed assailants killed two French prison officers and seriously wounded three others in an attack on a convoy in Normandy on Tuesday and an inmate escaped, officials said.
Steal a car, lose your driver's licence for 10 years under new Ontario proposal
Repeat car thieves may face lengthy licence bans under proposed changes to Ontario’s Highway Traffic Act.
$1.6B parts plant for Honda electric vehicle batteries coming to Niagara Region
A Japanese company has announced it will build an approximately $1.6-billion plant in Ontario's Niagara Region that will make a key electric vehicle battery component as part of Honda's supply chain in the province.
B.C. brings in law on name changes on day that child killer's new identity revealed
The BC NDP have tabled legislation aimed at stopping people who have committed certain heinous acts from changing their names.
Manitoba premier to visit areas impacted by wildfire
Manitoba Premier Wab Kinew will get a close-up look at the devastation from a large wildfire burning in northern Manitoba Tuesday.
Significant police presence as Israeli flag flies at Ottawa City Hall
The Israeli flag is flying at Ottawa City Hall today to mark the country's national day, with plans to hold a private ceremony to mark Israel's Independence Day. There is a significant police presence at City Hall, including security barriers outside the main doors.