Rhetoric of Health and Medicine Jun 2022 Open Access

The Politics of Standardized Patienthood

Sara Press

Abstract

Abstract: Standardized Patient Programs (SPPs) enlist actors to roleplay the symptoms of various diseases and disorders, and to embody a range of personalities. These simulations are used to help improve the communicative practices and professional competencies of future healthcare workers. Focusing on the use of these programs for medical students and doctors, this article establishes a kairology of the SPP to better understand the shifting terrains of patient representation. A kairological account focuses on “historical moments as rhetorical opportunities” (Segal, 2005, p. 23) and, in the case of medicine, illustrates how “changes in [medical] practice are importantly reciprocal with changes in the terms of practice” (Segal, 2005, p. 22). I trace the SPP through various linguistic iterations to reveal how the shifting language of simulated patienthood reflects different orientations towards medical pedagogy and patient populations at significant junctures in time. I conclude my kairology with an examination of the Indigenous Simulated Patient Program, a 2011 pilot program that has the potential to better represent and serve Indigenous peoples in medical pedagogy and practice.

Journal
Rhetoric of Health and Medicine
Published
2022-06-08
DOI
10.5744/rhm.2022.50015
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Topics
rhetorical criticism writing pedagogy
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Citation Context

Cited by in this index (1)

  1. Guadrón (2025)
    Reflections-on-Action: Using Critical Disability Studies to Reconceptualize the…
    Written Communication

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