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
'A beautiful soul': Funeral held for baby boy killed in wrong-way crash on Highway 401
A funeral was held on Wednesday for a three-month-old boy who died after being involved in a wrong-way crash on Highway 401 in Whitby last week.
Police handcuff man trying to enter Drake's Toronto mansion
Toronto police say a man was taken into custody outside Drake's Bridle Path mansion Wednesday afternoon after he tried to gain access to the residence.
Biden says he will stop sending bombs and artillery shells to Israel if they launch major invasion of Rafah
U.S. President Joe Biden said for the first time Wednesday he would halt shipments of American weapons to Israel, which he acknowledged have been used to kill civilians in Gaza, if Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu orders a major invasion of the city of Rafah.
U.S. presidential candidate RFK Jr. had a brain worm, has recovered, campaign says
Independent U.S. presidential candidate Robert F. Kennedy Jr. had a parasite in his brain more than a decade ago, but has fully recovered, his campaign said, after the New York Times reported about the ailment.
Ontario Provincial Police arrest 64 suspects in child sexual exploitation investigation
Ontario Provincial Police say 64 suspects are facing a combined 348 charges in connection with a series of child sexual exploitation investigations that spanned the province.
Pfizer agrees to settle more than 10K lawsuits over Zantac cancer risk: Bloomberg News
Pfizer has agreed to settle more than 10,000 lawsuits about cancer risks related to the now discontinued heartburn drug Zantac, Bloomberg News reported on Wednesday, citing people familiar with the deal.
Quebec premier defends new museum on Quebecois nation after Indigenous criticism
Quebec Premier Francois Legault is defending his comments about a new history museum after he was accused by a prominent First Nations group of trying to erase their history.
Blind Sask. boy heading to international braille competition hopes to increase accessibility for visually impaired
A Saskatchewan boy who qualified for an international braille competition in Los Angeles next month hopes he can inspire change in his home province.
'A step forward': New screening criteria for sperm donors takes effect
Canadians looking to grow their families with the assistance of sperm or egg donations should soon have more options for donors as the federal health agency does away with longstanding restrictions criticized as discriminatory.