Role reversal

Who is the student and who is the master?
[A Teacher and his Pupil via wikimedia]

Adam Bitterman proposes a "reverse" SP scenario where actors pretend to be doctors and students pretend to be patients as a way to enhance student empathy and etiquette. How fun would that be? I would start by creating five encounters with different types of doctors and a very simple history for students, so that the student experiences the way different doctors can affect the same patient with the same case.

I can imagine many ways it could be enlightening. I also see some ways that medical students would still have trouble empathizing with the experience of most patients. For instance, technical jargon wouldn't make students feel stupid. Students would still likely anticipate the exams being performed, and so never experience the frustration of unclear instructions. Students are unlikely to feel as nervous or ashamed of their bodies as patients do when being exposed or asked personal questions.

Still, it seems like a worthwhile experiment to reinforce good habits, especially paired with some self-analysis exercises. In what ways do the students resemble or respect the Standardized Doctor in the scenario? What did the SD do that caused them to be uncomfortable? I would love to see a checklist of SD communication skills that the student "patients" fill out.