TCU Silver Frogs Walk in the Shoes of Medical Students
TCU Silver Frogs experienced how Anne Burnett Marion School of Medicine at Texas Christian University students learn about health care.
FORT WORTH – A group of observers entered an exam room where they witnessed a woman with bruising on her face who was holding a baby.
“It looked so real,” said one observer. “I felt so bad for her. I wanted to ask if there was a way I could help you.”
The observation case was simulated, but the impact was real.
The observers were TCU Silver Frogs who experienced how Anne Burnett Marion School of Medicine at Texas Christian University students learn about health care.
The Clinical Skills and Simulation teams at Burnett School of Medicine at TCU hosted 20 Silver Frogs members, 50 and older, who come from different educational backgrounds and experiences and love to learn. The group got an inside look at how the medical school is training students to be Empathetic Scholars® and physicans of the future.
The program began with Burnett School of Medicine faculty members,Adam Jennings, D.O., Executive Director for Simulation Education, Innovation and Research and Sandra Esparza, M.D., Director of Clinical Skills, giving the group an overview about the departments and answering questions.
The Silver Frogs explored different medical stations that students use to train and witnessed patient/provider scenarios with standardized patients (SPs) who help give students real-life encounters along with feedback. They also tried on the Microsoft HoloLens® and learned about the medical school’s HoloAnatomy® curriculum.
The Silver Frogs loved the experiences, said Whitney Hall, Coordinator of Standardized Patient Education at Burnett School of Medicine.
“It’s really cool that the Silver Frogs were able to experience what students experience with SPs in their first year of medical school,” Hall said.