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
Spectacular aurora light show to be seen across Canada Friday night
A rare and severe solar storm is expected to bring spectacular displays of the northern lights, also known as aurora borealis, across much of Canada and parts of the United States on Friday night.
Town of Fort Nelson, B.C., ordered to evacuate due to wildfire
The entire town of Fort Nelson, B.C., as well as the nearby Fort Nelson First Nation, has been ordered to evacuate due to an out-of-control wildfire.
Snowbirds in Vancouver for puck-drop flyby as Canucks face Oilers
The Canadian Forces Snowbirds will be performing a flyover across downtown Vancouver at the start of tonight's Stanley Cup playoff game between the Canucks and the Edmonton Oilers.
McGill University seeks emergency injunction to dismantle pro-Palestinian encampment
McGill University has filed a request for an injunction to have the pro-Palestinian encampment removed from its campus.
Which Canadian cities have the highest and lowest grocery prices?
Where you live plays a big factor in what you pay at the grocery store. And while it's no secret the same item may have a different price depending on the store, city or province, we wanted to see just how big the differences are, and why.
Swarm of 20,000 bees gather around woman’s car west of Toronto
A swarm of roughly 20,000 bees gathered around a woman’s car in the parking lot of Burlington Centre.
Video shows naked raccoon catching B.C. family by surprise
When Marvin Henschel spotted a strange and hairless creature wandering through a front lawn in B.C.'s Lower Mainland, he could barely believe his eyes.
Barron Trump declines to serve as an RNC delegate
Former U.S. President Donald Trump's youngest son, Barron Trump, has declined to serve as a delegate at this summer’s Republican National Convention, according to a senior Trump campaign adviser and a statement from Melania Trump's office.
Out-of-control wildfire prompts evacuation alert for Fort McMurray, Saprae Creek Estates Friday night
An evacuation alert was issued for two Wood Buffalo communities Friday night, as crews battled an out-of-control wildfire near Fort McMurray.