By Ben B. Blohowiak
Leading up to the most recent ASPE conference, I was excited to attend as a first-timer; what I didn’t realize was just how much valuable learning I would come away with.
I was fortunate enough to attend the Saturday pre-conference session in which Joe Lopreiato, Director of the National Capital Area Medical Simulation Center, drove home fundamental lessons from the core curriculum while also employing standardized patient methodology–my fellow learners and I acquired hands-on experience with multiple components of the physical exam.
Similarly, Robert MacAulay and Anita Richards, from the University of San Diego, involved attendees in the enactment of history-taking with a standardized patient in ways that combined levity with robust mnemonics.
The general emphasis on research and the use of academic rigor to expand the knowledge base from which we draw was paralleled by the themes of expanding our horizons through international connections and addressing how cases might be more inclusive of traditionally underrepresented groups. All of this, along with the nuts and bolts of how to run an efficient and effective SP program, was on the table, and I was glad to be a part of it.
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