Multi-year embedded simulation program
Curtin's allied-health programs use The Experience Lab's RolePlay actors as simulated patients across formative and summative clinical assessment. The partnership has run for years, embedded directly into the assessment design.
What the brief asked for.
Curtin needed reliable, calibrated, repeatable simulated patient characters for OSCE-style clinical assessment. Internal volunteers create assessment bias - enthusiasm drops by mid-afternoon, students get inconsistent experiences, and assessment validity erodes.
The program.
- Trained simulated patients across physiotherapy, allied-health and clinical communication units
- Scenario design in partnership with Curtin's clinical faculty
- Calibrated performance across formative teaching and summative assessment circuits
- Multi-year embedded partnership - scenarios refined each iteration
Faculty consistently report that the trained-actor model has materially improved both the student learning experience and the integrity of the assessment process. Students engage more deeply with practice patients who can hold the role under pressure - and the moment of "is he actually an actor?" feedback is now part of the unit's reputation.
“On Day 1, one of the students said to me - 'he's not an actor is he? He obviously has a real injury!' Nate was sooo good at his role and he nailed the brief perfectly.”— Assistant Director Learning & Teaching, Curtin University
Training Delivered Differently
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