IMP student Anita Weng (IMP Class of 2021) sits with volunteer patient Margaret Chambers at the IMP volunteer patient appreciation tea on June 5 at Royal Jubilee Hospital.
Volunteer patients are an integral aspect of the medical education provided by the Island Medical Program (IMP). To recognize this contribution, IMP students, faculty, and staff gathered with volunteers at Royal Jubilee Hospital for an appreciation tea on June 5.
“They [the volunteers] play a vital role in assisting our students with practicing their clinical skills and relational skills,” says Karen Basi, Patient Programs Coordinator, IMP. “The IMP wants to express its deepest gratitude for their time and efforts.”
Patient Program volunteers assist the IMP in many ways. Volunteer Patients participate in clinical skills sessions to help first- and second-year students develop important skills like history-taking, physical examinations, and bedside manner. First Patient volunteers are people with chronic conditions, and their unique healthcare needs, experiences, and insights are invaluable for teaching students about continuity of care. Clinical Teaching Associates receive special training so they can help teach medical students how to perform sensitive physical examinations – such as breast, pelvic, and prostate exams – in a thorough and respectful way. Finally, Standardized Patients are actors trained to simulate the personal history, physical symptoms, emotional characteristics, and everyday concerns of certain cases.
Volunteers have many reasons for joining the program. First Patient volunteer Margaret Chambers joined the program because her son is in medical school. After reflecting on her son’s experience, she felt it is was her “turn to help here and return the favour.” Margaret also says that she appreciate how the program captures the humanity of medicine and allows students to “connect so much more.”
“Wanting to work with people is why I went into medicine,” says Kimberlee Hart (IMP Class of 2022). For her, volunteer patients are important as they “help us remember why we want to be doctors… It’s very humbling they are willing to teach and help us become better doctors.”
“We spend so many hours sitting at desk looking at pictures; [it’s] very theoretical,” Kimberlee adds. “To see live patient and learn from them is so exciting.”
To learn more about, or apply to, the Patient Program, visit https://imp.med.ubc.ca/community/patient-program/