Last week I had the privilege of attending the University of Aberdeen Medical School’s annual celebration lunch for their simulated patient programme.
At Aberdeen, simulated patients are known as “Patient Partners”, reflecting the role they play in partnering with staff and students throughout medical education.
The day was organised to thank the people who give their time, energy, and experience to help train future doctors.
A programme of impressive scale
What struck me first was the scale.
Aberdeen has one of the largest programs in the UK with almost 300 simulated participants involved, largely made up of volunteers alongside some paid actors. This year, the programme is on track to deliver around 15,000 simulated patient hours. For a single Year 5 OSCE examination, more than 800 simulated patient hours were required.
Anyone involved in healthcare simulation will understand what an achievement that represents.
But the numbers only tell part of the story.
Learning the human side of medicine
Throughout the day, staff and recent graduates spoke about the impact SPs had on their education.
One graduate recalled trembling during their first SP encounter.
Another described how difficult it initially felt to ask sensitive questions, such as taking a sexual history. Through repeated practice, those conversations became more natural, more professional, and less uncomfortable.
They also spoke about learning the nuances of interacting with people.
When to offer comfort.
When to give someone space.
When a small joke might help ease the tension.
One graduate shared a vivid memory of working with a simulated patient portraying a manic episode, who suddenly stood up and began shouting during the consultation.
Years later, that experience had stayed with them.
That is the value of simulated patients.
They do not just help students practise clinical questions or prepare for assessments.
They help future doctors learn how to interact with people during some of the most vulnerable, awkward, emotional, and difficult moments of their lives, often in pressured environments where they still need to listen, respond with empathy, and make good decisions.
That is what doctors have to do every day.
Why people become simulated patients
The conversations I had around the table reinforced that even more.
Some volunteer patients were brand new and just beginning their journey.
Others had been involved for many years. One person at my table had been volunteering for eighteen years.
When I asked why people got involved, the answers varied.
Some wanted to give something back.
Some wanted to help improve healthcare after their own experiences as patients.
Some enjoyed staying active and connected after retirement.
Some volunteered alongside friends.
Many simply described it as worthwhile and enjoyable.
That sense of purpose is something I have heard from SPs elsewhere too. For many, the role is not only about supporting healthcare education. It is also interesting, varied, social, and personally rewarding.
There is a real sense of belonging that comes from being part of a programme like this.
Simulated patients interact with students, tutors, staff, and one another. They support different types of teaching and assessment. They may portray conditions, provide feedback, assist with physical examination teaching, or help students practise conversations that are difficult to recreate in any other way.
The work is serious, but it is also human.
There is often humour, warmth, and camaraderie along the way.
More than a rota, a community
There was also a real variety in how people contributed.
Some enjoyed scripted scenarios and emotionally complex roles. Others were still building their confidence and preferred supporting physical examination teaching first.
That variety matters.
A strong SP programme is not just a rota of available people. It is a community of people with different backgrounds, motivations, confidence levels, and strengths, all contributing to the education of future healthcare professionals.
And the realism they bring is what makes simulated participant work so powerful.
For many scenarios, this is the gold standard in healthcare training: a student should be able to engage with the person in front of them as they would with a real patient.
Not as someone reading a script.
But as someone presenting a believable human experience, with all the emotion, nuance, discomfort, unpredictability, and pressure that comes with it.
That realism is what makes the learning memorable.
Aberdeen has clearly built something special around that community.
Medical students meet simulated patients from their very first week, and the programme is embedded throughout their education. The medical school has also recently been ranked number one in the UK by the Guardian University Guide for two consecutive years (’24, ’25) and achieved ASPiH accreditation.
Those achievements are built on many things, but spending time with the SPs made it clear how important this programme is to the student experience.
Throughout the day, I repeatedly heard one description of the Patient Program team:
“A force of nature.”
After seeing the scale of the programme, hearing the stories from graduates, and speaking with the simulated patients themselves, it was easy to understand why.
What stayed with me
What stayed with me most was not the scale, the rankings, or even the long-service awards.
It was the people.
The lady who has been volunteering for eighteen years.
The new SPs still finding their confidence.
The graduates remembering encounters that shaped them years later.
The staff who clearly care deeply about the community they have built.
Long before a newly qualified doctor treats their first real patient, there is usually a simulated patient who helped them get there.
A special thank you the the University of Aberdeen Medical School for the invite.