Standardized Patient...My Other Job

Another "job" I have in addition to the coffee business is in the Standardized Patient Program. This is something that the med students start doing in their 3rd semester. I do get paid for my time...just a little extra grocery money. Basically, I am given a new scenario each semester and I have to study the case. I learn about my symptoms, my medical history, my family medical history, and any other information that may also go along with my condition. Then, after weeks of practicing, I finally perform my illness for the med students. I am in a room that looks like a doctor's office and I wear a gown. Two students come into the room, dressed professionally and in a white coat, and perform both a physical exam and a patient history intake. The whole process takes about an hour and then I give them feedback on how they did. Most of them do very well. I can tell they are nervous, but I am too...I am not the best actor in the world. I do two hours in a row each week. It has been a lot of fun so far and I will continue to do it each semester while we are here. I have already had some of our coffee customers as "doctors" which is a little awkward so I can imagine when it is Kyle's semester that is doing it, I will know quite a few of them. I just have to stay in the role and not break character. For the disease I have know, pulmonary embolism and deep vein thrombosis, I have to rub red lipstick all over my right lower leg to make it appear swollen and red. It's kinda fun to get paid to play dress up and pretend to be sick.