Simulated Patient Recruitment

Requirements

To be able to take part in this work, you need to fulfil the following requirements

• Be over the age of 18
• Be able to work in the UK
• Be self-employed with a UTR number
• Have a UK bank account
• Complete necessary forms in order to register for payment and confirm your eligibility to work
• Complete an online Covid Declaration in the days before each session

Description of the work

These are communication skills training sessions for 1st and 2nd-year medical students on the Nottingham University General Entry Medicine course (GEM) and take place at the Royal Derby Hospital (not in Nottingham).

There are two kinds of sessions you may be asked to be part of, general communication skills sessions and OSCE exams.

Communication Skills Sessions

These sessions are quite simple and relaxed. These sessions will involve you role-playing with a group of students and a member of faculty and you will work with 4 groups throughout the session. There will be a break after the first two groups to refresh yourself.

Before the session begins, you will have an opportunity to discuss the scenario with members of faculty and other simulated patients if needed to clarify any aspects or gauge the level of challenge needed.

You will be given a role to learn in advance and perform this role with a medical student. Each role-play will last around 10 minutes and you may be asked to repeat some or all of the scenario with the same student or another member of the group. Sometimes, you may be asked to change some aspect of the scenario or the level of challenge to give a new learning outcome for the student. The group will then discuss the student’s performance, facilitated by the member of faculty and as part of this discussion, you will be asked to feedback on certain points. You will be expected to provide incite on how it felt during the interaction and if there is anything that could have been done differently to produce a better response. It is important to provide helpful tips and not to demoralise the student.

OCSE Exams

Exams involve repeating the same scenario for single students while an examiner observes and marks their performance.

Exam role-plays last 10 minutes but will often include a mandatory summary from the student to the examiner, which does not involve you (unless the student remembers extra questions they wish to ask). Generally, you will perform a block of 6 role-plays, one after another in quick succession, with a 15-minute break after each group of 6 students. You can expect to have 2 or 3 blocks for a half-day exam and 5 blocks of 6 for a full day exam. A full day exam will include approximately an hour for lunch.

It is very important that you perform the scenario consistently for each student. They have to be given the exact same opportunities to pass the exam as all other students. This does not mean that you should ignore poor communication skills, as you should react appropriately to how you are spoken to or how questions are asked, but you must react consistently across the length of the day.

These exams can be mentally draining, so ensuring that you give the same level of performance at the end of the day as you did at the start is important.

Covid Precautions

Of course, with the ongoing pandemic, precautions have been put in place to keep students, staff and simulated patients as safe as possible.

All people entering the building will be required to wear a facemask at all times and regular hand washing is expected using hand gell provided. Social distancing measures have been put in place with maximum room occupancy limits observed.

Additionally, prior to each session, simulated patients will have to complete a Covid declaration online in the week proceeding the session and take a lateral flow test no more than 24 hours prior to each session. If a positive result is given from the LFT, then this must be reported right away so that alternative arrangements can be put in place such as working online via Microsoft Teams if the individual feels well enough, or a replacement simulator can be found if not.

If at any point a lockdown is put in place again, then sessions will move online and take place using Microsoft Teams. (Training can be provided if needed). To be eligible to work via Microsoft Teams, simulator will need a webcam, a reliable internet connection and a space they can be used that will be quiet and undisturbed for the duration of the session.

Payment

Following sessions, you will be required to email an invoice to the course administrator for GEM at the University of Nottingham. Payments are handled solely by the University and not by Procommskills.

If however, in the rare event of payment taking longer than expected (covid related staff sickness for example), then we will chase payment up for you directly with the university if possible and advise accordingly.

Session fees and timings are as follows.

Accepted Travel Expences

• Mileage – 45p per mile
• Parking (with copy of ticket)
• Reasonable Public Transport (with copy of travel receipts)

Application Process

The application process will consist of a written application (below), which may be followed by an invitation to attend an audition where you will be asked to take part in a role-play and give some feedback under the guidance of a member of the team.

This audition day will be on the 1st of June at Derby Hospital. Further details and time slots will be sent to applicants.

If necessary, you may then be asked to attend an actual session to observe how they are run and the way a real role-play works, at which you may be asked to have a go under the supervision of one of the Procommskills team.

Following this, you will then be added to the list of simulators who are booked for these sessions.

There may be sessions for other clients you may be asked to do as well, but with any booking request, you are free to say no for any reason.

Application