The value of SPs

Core values.
[Apples and chestnuts, via wikimedia]

I remember with great clarity a conversation I had with a faculty member who was unconvinced of the value of SPs. As a teacher at a school that has a reputation for being patient-centered, he felt non-empathic applicants self-selected out, which meant they could focus on teaching the physical skills to the students who were accepted.

But (said I) even with the best students in the world, skills decay over time unless they are reinforced and rewarded. Medical school is almost deliberately overwhelming. Faced with competing priorities, it makes sense for students to focus on the priorities that are rewarded by the system. If grades, clinical experience, and service are what the institution rewards, then patient communication skills become less visible and important. Starting with good students just means the slide is less precipitous.

So for all their other virtues, at the most fundamental level SP encounters help remind students that patient communications skills matter. They indicate that the institution still values those skills as part of its medical education. I don't think this should be limited to the first two years, though: SPs should be an integral part of a professional medical education at all stages, including after licensure. Practice may not make perfect, but you are significantly more likely to maintain a skill if you practice it than if you don't.