Clinical Skills USA is dedicated to contributing to the enlightenment and education of current and future healthcare providers by sharing their unique insights from the patient’s perspective, in combination with an actual intimate exam experience.
Manikins and actual clinical patients cannot teach the learner how to perform a comprehensive, painless and sensitive intimate exam. They cannot “guide” the learner as they participate in performing their very first pelvic or rectal exam. And, the manikin cannot tell the clinician that they are being hurt. And often, the clinical patient will not admit to experiencing discomfort, because they mistakenly believe that “the exam is supposed to hurt”. The fear of an unnecessarily painful exam is what keeps most patients away from participating in these important clinical exams.
A professional “Guiding Patient” at Clinical Skills USA will provide the instruction, guidance, and assurances that neither a manikin nor clinical patient can impart. The objective of every instructor at CSUSA is to share their unique insights and numerous personal exam experiences, with the ultimate goal of protecting the comfort and safety of the learner’s future patients, while ensuring a comprehensive physical exam.
Pelvic and rectal exams are not painful, in and of themselves, if performed appropriately. Properly trained clinicians will be less vulnerable to confusing their exam technique with a patient's expression of discomfort associated with pathology. Too many inadequately trained clinicians will ignore an expression of pain (a symptom), because they attribute the pain to their own exam technique. Sadly, an important symptom has been ignored.
Clinical Skills USA offers a support team of trained and compassionate instructors (“Guiding Patients”) who support the proper instruction of the female gynecological and male urogenital exams.
What is a Gynecological Teaching Associate or Male Urogenital Teaching Associate?
(Definitions applied by the Association of Standardized Patient Educators, and the Society for Simulation in Healthcare dictionary)
A Gynecological Teaching Associate (“GYN Guiding Patient”) is a female specifically trained to teach, assess, and provide feedback to learners about accurate pelvic, rectal and/or breast examination techniques. They also address the communication skills needed to provide a comfortable exam in a standardized manner, while using their bodies as teaching tools in a supportive, non-threatening environment.
A Male UrogenitalTeaching Associate (“URO Guiding Patient”) is a male specifically trained to teach, assess, and provide feedback to learners about accurate urogenital and rectal examination techniques. They also address the communication skills needed to provide a comfortable exam in a standardized manner, while using their bodies as teaching tools in a supportive, non-threatening environment.
“Hello Scott!
It was pretty wonderful to have you assist me with this (Continuing Education) program…I never once worried about the outcome after it was in your hands. It’s great to have that kind of trust with someone! I’m so glad your Guiding Patients enjoyed the experience in Atlanta too. We got such great reviews about it all – people love the Guiding and Standardized Patients!
Thanks again! Keep up the amazing work!”
ARE YOU…
An individual interested in
A medical or educational institution interested in
