Today's photo is NEW! It is a shot of the front door to the Admissions Office for Duke University's medical school. What do you think it means when such a competitive school is trying to instill hope in their prospective students? Hmmm ...
Anyway, I took this photo yesterday while I was at Duke for my very first day as a Standardized Patient (yes, that's my job title). I spent a couple of hours in a classroom with 2 faculty members and about a dozen first year medical students. I pretended to be a patient named Alexis who was suffering from Ulcerative Colitis. One by one, the students interviewed me about my symptoms, potention causes of my recent flare up, and potential treatment options. It was a complicated case that forced us to discuss a LOT of uncomfortable subjects. Talk about long form improv! Geez! But seriously, it was fun. The students were really engaged in the exercise and I was really impressed by their professionalism and sympathy. You would have that that they'd been in medical school for longer than a few weeks. Luckily, they seemed to love me, too. One of the faculty - the one who seemed the most critical & hard to please - told me that I was "wonderful". And everyone was surprised that this was my first time to be a Standardized Patient. Hopefully this is good news and means that I'll be called in to fake many more illness in the future! Wee!
I know this was an odd acting job - so odd that I don't even know how to put it on my resume. At times I found it very stressful, but I really enjoyed it. I felt that I was making a very positive contribution to the education of these students. Plus it was kinda invigorating to do SO much improvising! It's been ages since I've had an opportunity to do any sort of acting, so it felt really good to have a taste of it again.
Or to put it another way, working for Duke gave me hope.
3 comments:
EEEEEEEE!!!
this sounds so cool. staying in character while talking to people is nerve-racking. there were those party guests we did at the F&C Services party, but this didn't require big hair and a gown. i am so freaking jealous!
maybe the med students were so nice BECAUSE they were still new. i hope people like you keep them from losing that.
I am happy for you too. You are amazing. And george is right...it can be nerve racking. But at least you didn't have her there to smack you on the back of the head causing you to hit your teeth on the wine glass. LOL. Anywho...VERY excited and proud of you.
george, it's funny you mention gowns because if I keep doing this I will eventually suffer through an actual examination - hospital gown and all. Now THAT will be interesting!
Thanks so much for the support, gang!
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