Former Actors Helping to Train Next Generation of Doctors and Healthcare Providers at 91制片厂
A few times each week, Beverly Washburn and Kerstan Szczepanski can be found acting as standardized patients for students at 91制片厂.
Inside one of the 11 exam rooms inside Touro鈥檚 Objective Structured Clinical Experience (OSCE) lab, Washburn complains about certain symptoms or asks for prescription drugs. It鈥檚 up to the student to properly assess the situation.
Washburn has had a lifetime of experience for this job as one of the most notable child actresses of the 1950s. But acting as a patient, she added, is one of the best roles she鈥檚 ever had.
鈥淲orking as a patient, we have to put ourselves in character and act how we might feel if these students were really our doctors,鈥� Washburn said. 鈥淭his is such a wonderful program that 91制片厂 provides for its students because they learn how to make their patients feel important. They might see 50 patients in one day after they graduate, but each patient wants to feel like they鈥檙e the most important.鈥�
Touro is the largest medical school in the state of Nevada and has approximately 30 standardized patients from a variety of backgrounds in feature film, TV, commercials, theater, and more. All of them work with students from the College of Osteopathic Medicine, as well as Touro鈥檚 Schools of Physician Assistant Studies, Nursing, Physical Therapy, and Occupational Therapy.
Now 75, Washburn has spent the last 70 years of her life as a working actress. When she was 6-years-old, the Southern California native landed her first role in the 1950 film 鈥淭he Killer That Stalked New York,鈥� featuring Evelyn Keyes and William Bishop.
鈥淚 actually died of smallpox in that role,鈥� she said with a laugh. 鈥淎nd here I am at Touro playing a patient.鈥�
Washburn has died in more than one of her roles throughout her storied career. In 1967, she played Lt. Arlene Galway during the second season of the original 鈥淪tar Trek鈥� series. In the episode, titled 鈥淭he Deadly Years,鈥� Washburn鈥檚 character died of old age as after contracting a radiation sickness.
鈥淔unny enough, 鈥楽tar Trek鈥� didn鈥檛 really start to become popular until after it ended,鈥� she said with a laugh.
It was the Star Trek connection that first put Washburn in contact with Szczepanski, who came to Las Vegas after obtaining his theater degree from Northwestern University.
Szczepanski played the Cowardly Lion as part of the MGM Grand鈥檚 鈥榃izard of Oz鈥� theme when it opened in 1993, but he found his dream role in 1998 when 鈥淪tar Trek: The Experience鈥� opened inside the Westgate, formerly known as the Las Vegas Hilton.
鈥淚 was one of the first two actors they hired for the show,鈥� he said. 鈥淚 began my Star Trek career in Star Fleet where I would bring people onto the ride. Eventually, I went on to work as an Andorian.鈥�
Growing up in Long Island, N.Y., Szczepanski was raised on Star Trek. When he was 10, he went as an Andorian for Halloween.
鈥淲hen I got the job at Star Trek: The Experience, I was basically living my childhood dream,鈥� he said.
Once the show closed its doors in 2008, Szczepanski found himself looking for work. It was at the annual Star Trek Convention shortly after when he first met Washburn. He remembered her from her role as Lt. Arlene Galway in the original series, and as fate would have it, the two would later work together as standardized patients at 91制片厂.
鈥淯sing the skills that I鈥檝e developed as an actor is hopefully helping to make the students better healthcare professionals,鈥� he said. 鈥淚鈥檓 in awe of how hard they work on a daily basis.鈥�
Dr. Ronald Hedger, Associate Professor in 91制片厂鈥檚 College of Osteopathic Medicine, said working with standardized patients will help students become more comfortable in their environment once they go on their rotations.
All standardized patients are emailed their scripts a week before they perform their respective roles. The scripts are written by the primary care physicians in Touro鈥檚 College of Osteopathic Medicine, and usually cover the material that students are learning in class at that time.
鈥淭he actors are able to take on roles that students would expect to see in an urgent care, emergency room, or family practice setting,鈥� Hedger said.
Hedger, who鈥檚 been on the Touro faculty since the university opened in 2004, helped start the patient-actor program with just 11 actors in 2005. While the university has since tripled the amount of patient actors it uses, expansion of the medical school and physician assistant studies program means they鈥檒l need even more, he said.
Most standardized patients tend to range in age from the 40s-60s, though Hedger would like to include younger patient actors to help diversify the talent pool even more.
A typical standardized patient encounter lasts for 14 minutes, with another nine minutes scheduled for the students to complete their notes following the visit.
While students conduct their patient visits, Hedger and other Touro faculty watch and listen to every interaction from the OSCE lab鈥檚 control room. Each interaction is recorded and stored digitally, so students can watch their patient visits to see how they performed and what they can improve on for the next one.
鈥淭he patient actors have been a very important part of our education. They allow us to step outside of our role as a student and allow us to feel more like an actual physician,鈥� said Mehdi Talle, a first-year medical student at Touro. 鈥淭here are so many benefits to working with the patient actors, and I can鈥檛 speak highly enough about how great that experience is.鈥�
Washburn said having a friendly and comforting demeanor is an important quality for the students to possess.
鈥淚f doctors don鈥檛 have that comfortable bedside manner and ability to connect with their patients, it can be very difficult,鈥� she said. 鈥淲hat we try to do is give the students suggestions to help them improve on the little things to convey that warmth and passion.鈥�
Hedger said the actors will sometimes have 鈥榙ebriefing sessions鈥� in order to provide students with the necessary feedback, though they never break character during the actual visit.
To make the visits more realistic, the patient actors each have a different backstory that portrays a different home life, a representation of the diverse patient population students will see once they graduate.
鈥淚n real life, not everybody is happily married with two kids, a dog, and a white-picket fence. There are all kinds of scenarios these students need to deal with,鈥� Washburn said. 鈥淭hey鈥檙e going to have patients who are belligerent, crude, and nasty. They鈥檒l also have the sweet ones or the 鈥榃hoa is me鈥� ones. Sometimes, they鈥檒l get the patients who are only looking to get prescription drugs. So, when we get our script, its鈥� really fun to prepare for our role.鈥�
Whatever the scenario calls for, Washburn is ready. Since she was a child, she鈥檚 been known for her ability to cry on command, an important trait when it comes to certain patient visits.
Washburn鈥檚 most notable role came in 1957 when she played Lisbeth Searcy in Walt Disney鈥檚 classic, 鈥淥ld Yeller.鈥�
鈥溾�極ld Yeller鈥� is more than 60 years old now, and unfortunately almost everybody from that movie is gone,鈥� she said. 鈥淎ctually, Old Yeller鈥檚 real name was 鈥楽pike,鈥� and they had gotten him from an animal shelter. They trained him to do everything. When the studios did other movies that featured dogs, they would use several different ones throughout the films. But, Spike did everything as Old Yeller.鈥�
Szczepanski made the joke that he works as an actor because he鈥檚 lazy, though he鈥檚 in awe of the work ethic and determination the students display.
鈥淚 come to Touro and I see these kids busting their butts. It鈥檚 incredible,鈥� he said.
Szczepanski and Washburn said first-year students are usually the most nervous, but they get better with more experience.
鈥淲e鈥檝e grown to know and love these students, because we鈥檒l see some of them as long as three years,鈥� Washburn said. 鈥淲e feel very fortunate to have this job because we want to help them even in the smallest way.鈥�
Throughout the 1960s and 1970s, Washburn continued to work in TV, including 鈥淭he Patty Duke Show,鈥� 鈥淕idget,鈥� and 鈥淭he Streets of San Francisco,鈥� starring an up-and-coming Michael Douglas.
While she now works in a completely different capacity as a standardized patient, she鈥檚 just grateful to work with her fellow actors and actresses as they help train the next generation of doctors and healthcare providers at Touro.
鈥淲e really are like a family, and we love this job so much,鈥� she said. 鈥淭hese students are our future, and if we can do just one little thing to help them, then we鈥檝e done our job.鈥�
