Patient Program


What is the IMP Patient Program?

As a member of the Patient Program, you’ll help medical students develop many important skills, such as history-taking, hands-on exams, connecting with patients in a respectful, empathetic manner, and much more.

We need people of all ages, genders, and backgrounds to help train our students. IMP faculty and students are bound by the Canadian Medical Association Code of Ethics, so all participant information is kept in the strictest of confidence.

The Patient Program is currently operating in-person. We have strict public health protocols in place to protect our volunteers, staff, faculty, and students. Please email our Patient Program Coordinator to learn more.  


What opportunities are available?

Volunteer Patients

Volunteer Patients (VPs) participate as themselves in clinical skills sessions. They become a teaching model for students and offer their authentic medical history, whether they are healthy or living with an illness or disability.

VPs answer questions about their health, family, and lifestyle while participating in non-invasive physical examinations under the guidance of a qualified physician. Over 100 people participate as VPs every year.

Standardized Patients

Standardized Patients (SPs) are basically actors, trained to simulate the personal history, physical symptoms, emotional characteristics, and everyday concerns of certain cases. They will answer medical history questions and undergo exams.

SPs must be articulate, memorize scenarios, and convincingly portray a range of emotions. Roughly 75 people participate as SPs every year.

Clinical Teaching Associates

Clinical Teaching Associates (CTAs) love to teach and want to make an impact on the delivery of healthcare for everyone. CTAs receive special training so they can help teach medical students how to perform sensitive physical examinations – such as chest, pelvic, penis, and prostate exams – in a thorough and respectful way.

Good communication skills, the ability to set boundaries, and patience are necessary, since CTAs undergo these examinations while teaching. Roughly 15 CTAs are needed each year.

First Patient Volunteers

First Patient Volunteers are people with chronic conditions. They have unique healthcare needs, and their experiences and insights are invaluable for training effective, conscientious doctors.

By working with these individuals, our students will learn more about the continuity of care and its importance in medical practice.