Introduction
TCM
Simulations often utilize a standardized patient (SP), or a “patient-actor” who has been trained to consistently portray a specific patient role outlined by a script [SPs, also known as occupational standardized patients (OSPs), staff and faculty, manikins, or students from higher level cohorts (student standardized patients, SSPs), can be paid actors. SSP was introduced in medical education as early as 1992, whereby third- and fourth-year medical students were recruited to participate as SPs and examiners in the Objective Structured Clinical Examination (OSCE) at the University of Minnesota Medical School [Traditional Chinese Medicine (TCM) has its discipline characteristics. At present, teaching modes, including didactic sessions, problem-based learning, and manikin-based skill practice dominate TCM universities in China. These lead to the problems of low enthusiasm and self-directed awareness in learning among the students [TCM medical students should be exposed to clinical competency enhancement training as an important part of their summative assessment for pre-clinical and clinical procedures. Since 2018, the Clinical Medical School of Chengdu University of TCM has initiated a student-SP-TCM program and trained a batch of TCM postgraduates as SSP-TCMs. Research on SSP in the field of TCM education has not yet been reported. The main objective of this prospective study was to determine whether SSP-TCM simulation offered benefits over didactic sessions for improving clinical competency among TCM medical students. A multifaceted analysis was also conducted for comparing OSP-TCMs and SSP-TCMs. Our findings are expected to provide a reduced-cost and high-efficiency training mode to enhance clinical competency among students of TCM.