Using a standardized family to teach clinical skills to medical students

Background: The use of standardized patients has been an accepted instructional methodology in medical education for many years. A logical evolution of this methodology is the creation of a standardized patient family. Description: This article describes one such standardized family, the Jones family, and how the family is used to teach interpersonal skills, interviewing, communication, counseling, and history-taking skills to medical students. Evaluation: After several years of using the Jones family, we have found that more comprehensive scripts need to be developed that recruitment and retention of standardized patients for a yearlong program does not seem to be a problem, and that the value added by a standardized family greatly enhances the educational experience for students. A standardized family seems a logical educational vehicle for teaching continuity of care, confidentiality, contextual placement of medical information within family dynamics, cultural beliefs, community orientation, and generalism. Conclusion: A standardized family is a viable instructional methodology that deserves greater use in medical education. Teaching and Learning in Medicine, 12(3), 145-149. Copyright (C) 2000 by Lawrence Erlbaum Associates, Inc.