[ti:Getting Paid to Play Sick at School] [ar:Christopher Cruise] [al:Health Report] [by:www.51voa.com] [00:00.00]This is the VOA Special English Health Report. [00:04.08]Some people act sick to get out of work. [00:07.32]Others act sick to get work. [00:10.47]For medical actors like Ted Bell, [00:13.41]the stage is an examination room [00:16.20]with a future doctor, nurse [00:18.64]or other health care professional. [00:21.38]TED BELL: "I start getting a cramping type pain right here." [00:25.73]EMILY TYRRELL: "And how long do they last for when they occur?" [00:28.28]Mr. Bell is playing a fifty-five-year-old patient [00:31.82]with stomach pains that began three months ago. [00:35.60]TED BELL: "I'm a teacher. [00:36.95]And several times its happened at school." [00:39.75]Ted Bell is just playing a teacher. [00:42.49]But in a way he really does teach. [00:45.84]He helps students like Emily Tyrrell [00:48.98]at the University of Maryland School of Nursing [00:52.07]learn to work with patients. [00:54.61]In real life, Mr. Bell is a retired civil engineer. [00:59.26]He now works as what is known as a "standardized patient." [01:04.15]He stays busy working at local medical schools. [01:07.18]TED BELL: "And it has developed into a great part time, [01:10.92]or retirement job actually, for me, [01:13.46]and I go to all six schools in this region, [01:17.29]Baltimore-Washington area." [01:19.39]About seven hundred standardized patients work in the area. [01:23.34]Pay starts at seventeen dollars an hour. [01:26.78]It can go as high as thirty-five dollars an hour [01:32.40]depending on the project. [01:34.29]Becoming a standardized patient [01:37.04]does not require medical knowledge. [01:39.29]The schools provide the training. [01:41.34]Nor does it require acting experience. [01:44.67]In fact, standardized patient Tom Wyatt [01:48.28]is a professional actor -- yet he does not even [01:51.87]think of his work with the students as acting. [01:54.92]Tom Wyatt: "I use some of the acting skills, [01:57.48]but honestly when its going well, [01:59.43]I'm not really acting, I am reacting. [02:02.62]I'm listening to them and reacting naturally [02:05.11]and honestly to what they're saying to me [02:07.51]and what they're giving me." [02:08.50]Standardized patients spend hours training [02:11.24]for each of their "performances." [02:13.80]They have to remember the medical history of the person [02:17.44]they are playing and be able to answer questions [02:20.97]as if they were really sick. [02:22.82]Tom Wyatt says remembering all the patients he has to play [02:27.50]and their conditions can be difficult. [02:29.99]Tom Wyatt: "Especially when I do, you know, [02:33.00]sometimes nine or ten cases in a week [02:35.44]at three different hospitals, [02:36.84]so they're all completely different." [02:38.58]After each session the standardized patients [02:42.08]talk to the students to discuss their performance [02:45.27]-- that is, the performance of the student. [02:48.47]Tom Wyatt: "The things that really stood out for me: [02:50.58]your, your manner was extremely professional. [02:53.32]And you were in command at all times. [02:55.87]You kind of took charge of the room." [02:57.56]Kurt Haspert is studying to become a nurse practitioner [03:01.30]and likes working with medical actors. [03:03.75]KURT HASPERT: "It is always good to do [03:05.10]the standardized patients [03:07.68]cause it kind of keeps you thinking about [03:09.21]how your thought process has to go, [03:11.15]and how you can narrow down your differential diagnosis [03:14.95]while you're asking questions." [03:16.40]The actors enjoy it too. [03:18.94]Retired engineer Ted Bell says [03:21.59]the students find the experience very helpful, [03:24.74]and that makes him feel good. [03:26.98]And that's the Health Report in VOA Special English, [03:31.42]For more news about health, [03:33.60]and for transcripts, MP3s and now PDFs of our programs [03:39.74]for e-readers, go to 51voa.com. [03:45.27]And follow us on Facebook,Twitter, YouTube and iTunes [03:49.85]at VOA Learning English. [03:53.63]I'm Christopher Cruise.