Role of standardized patients (SPs) in medical education

The use of standardized patients (SPs) is becoming increasingly common in medical education. Many advantages exist for the use of SPs in early medical education, justifying the success of their implementation. It provides students with a safe environment to practice clinical skills, feedbacks and exposes the hidden curriculum in medicine such as professionalism. The suggestions that have been offered may be beneficial to all early medical education programs that use SPs in early medical education and OSCE evaluations, and these recommendations may improve these programs for students, faculty, clinical tutors and SPs alike.