January 28, 2020By Lance Baily

UIC Offers 3 Professional Development & Certificate Courses for Standardized Patient Educators in 2020

Standardized Patient Educators looking for professional development opportunities must immediately check out the 2020 certificate courses from the University of Illinois College of Medicine (UIC). These three 2020 course offerings provide SP Educators with the opportunity to develop and pilot SP cases, develop programs, build QA-based exams, practice debriefing, active coaching and much much more! Both new and experienced Simulated Patient Educators should check out the UIC 2020 SP courses and register now while space still remains — as these courses WILL sell out!

UIC’s SP program was founded way back in 1987 as one of the first standardized patient centers and now a comprehensive multi-modal simulation center, SAIL, formerly the Dr. Allan L. and Mary L. Graham Clinical Performance Center (GCPC), is internationally recognized for innovation in standardized patient education. The Department of Medical Education (DME) at the University of Illinois – College of Medicine at Chicago is one of the first offices of medical education and is the oldest and largest continuously functioning department of medical education in the world. DME is recognized internationally for offering the continuum of graduate preparation for Health Professions Education (HPE) leadership and scholarship.

Through UIC’s Courses, you will learn to create compelling standardized-patient based educational programs to enhance health professions education. Specifically designed for simulation educators in the health professions, these courses are designed and provide for:


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  • Directors and staff of simulation and standardized patient (SP) centers
  • Faculty who wish to leverage SPs to enhance their educational programs
  • Intensive sessions focusing on key topics in SP-based education
  • Small class sizes, highly interactive, abundant hands-on practice

Sessions are led by Rachel Yudkowsky, MD, MHPE, Bob Kiser, CEC, CHSE, and faculty and staff of the Simulation and Integrative Learning Institute (SAIL) of the University of Illinois at Chicago College of Medicine.

One-Week Intensive Program: Standardized Patient Educator Certificate Program – October 26-30, 2020

This course provides the basic knowledge and skills necessary for faculty and staff who design and implement standardized (SP) based instruction and assessment programs in health professions education settings. At the end of this course, you will be better able to:

  • Develop and pilot SP Cases
  • Train SPs to portray cases
  • Develop SP-based instructional programs
  • Design assessments and assessment instruments
  • Recruit and select SPs

“The SPCP at UIC featured masterly delivery of beautifully blended and carefully selected compendium of introductory lectures, hands on sessions and small group activities. In five days this “one stop course”, (my first encounter with SP educator training) provided me with a firm SP Educator foundation” says Fadekemi Oginni FMCDS, FWACS, FIBCSOMS, MHPE, Professor of Oral and Maxillofacial Surgery at the College of Health Sciences at Obafemi Awolowo University.


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Registration deadline is August 31, 2020. Receive an early registration discount of $100 off the full program cost if you register and submit your payment by July 31, 2020. See website for current course rate.

Two-Day Workshop: Special Topics in Instruction & Assessment with SPs – May 4-5, 2020

This course provides a deeper look at the instruction and assessment of communication skills, physical exam skills, and clinical reasoning; standard setting for performance tests; and quality assurance for SP-based assessments. At the end of this course, you will be better able to:

  • Develop programs to teach and assess physical exam skills, communication skills and clinical reasoning with SPs
  • Apply methods to set defensible pass/fail standards for SP-based exams
  • Design quality assurance programs for SP-based exams

Erik Wagner, MFA Standardized Patient Trainer at Northwestern University Feinberg School of Medicine shared that he “wanted to thank the instructors one more time for such a comprehensive and effective workshop. I feel fortunate to have spent two days listening to your wisdom. Many sections pushed my knowledge capacity, and I love to be pushed! … I leave very inspired.” 

Registration deadline is March 9, 2020. Receive an early registration discount of $50 off the full program cost if you register and submit your payment by February 14, 2020. See website for current course rate.

Two-Day Workshop: Training SPs to Debrief and Give Feedback – September 2-3, 2020



This course will provide participants with basic theory and practical knowledge underlying SP methodology, and hands-on practice training SPs to effectively debrief learners and provide actionable feedback. At the end of this course, you will be better able to:

  • Compare and contrast feedback vs debriefing
  • Analyze elements of effective SP debriefing
  • Analyze barriers to effective debriefing
  • Design an effective SP feedback or debriefing session
  • Utilize coaching skills to encourage learner self-reflection
  • Design a feedback/debriefing training program for SPs

Registration deadline is July 31, 2020. Receive an early registration discount of $50 off the full program cost if you register and submit your payment by July 10, 2020. See website for current course rate.

About the Instructors

Rachel Yudkowsky MD MHPE is the former Director of the Dr Allen L and Mary L Graham Clinical Performance Center and Professor in the Department of Medical Education at the University of Illinois at Chicago. Dr Yudkowsky served as Chair of the Research and Grants Committee of the Association of Standardized Patient Educators (ASPE) from 2007-2009, and was the recipient of the ASPE Educator of the Year award in 2009. She was an Associate Editor of the Journal Simulation in Healthcare. Areas of research interest include performance assessment using standardized patients and other simulations, and setting passing standards for performance exams.

Bob Kiser CEC CHSE is the Associate Director of the Simulation and Integrative Learning Institute (formerly the Graham Clinical Performance Center), in charge of day-to-day operations for both patient-based and technical simulation programs. Bob began his association with the Graham Clinical Performance Center as a Standardized Patient in 1994, became a Standardized Patient Coordinator in September of 2005, Assistant Director in 2009, and Associate Director in 2016. During his time at the university he has joined his team nationally and internationally in facilitating workshops on the use and training of SPs. Two particular areas of interest for him are the use of SPs in telemedicine instruction and SP feedback. Bob is a graduate of Illinois State University with a B.A. in theater and is both a certified mediator and an executive coach.

Learn More & Register for the SP Courses on UIC’s Website!


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