Scots rush to bedside drama

MORE THAN 100 Taysiders have signed up to star in their own version of the hospital drama ER in a bid to help medical students improve their bedside manner.

Medical schools have traditionally built up groups of real patients with chronic disorders who are willing to be examined by students, but Dundee University's medical school at Ninewells Hospital is using healthy volunteers as the cornerstone of its pioneering clinical skills centre.

The Pounds 1 million centre is made up of demonstration rooms designed to look like doctors' surgeries and treatment rooms.

A single advertisement in the local press attracted 120 volunteers anxious to help test students' medical and communication skills. They range from health care workers and teachers to offshore oil workers keen to fill their free time.

"There are a whole lot of frustrated actors out there," says Iain Ledingham, head of the centre. "We have people who specialise in chest disorders, or heart conditions, people who can break down easily, or throw themselves on the ground and have fits."

Initially, the volunteers learn a simple script for a particular ailment, allowing young students to practice carrying out a structured interview while simultaneously learning how to put patients at ease.

"Rather sophisticated actors are given quite complex roles to play, such as a patient who is extremely nervous or aggressive, or drunk or a druggie," Professor Ledingham says. "The students learn all the different techniques for dealing with this. There are also married couples who come along, and that gives us the opportunity to introduce students to family problems."

An unexpected bonus has been the bonding between students and volunteers. "The students are learning that people are people and benefit from being spoken to as such, and not talked down to," he said.

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