The Māori Indigenous Health Institute (MIHI), University of Otago, Christchurch, has used the teaching method of Indigenous simulated patients to enhance its Indigenous health curriculum for the past eight years. This involves engaging Indigenous community members to participate as Indigenous simulated patients. Indigenous simulated patients are used throughout the Advanced Learning in Medicine clinical years (Years Four to Five) as part of small workshop tutorials and Objective Structured Clinical Examination (OSCE) assessments.
The role of Indigenous simulated patients within the University of Otago, Christchurch, curriculum is to provide medical students the opportunity to hone their application of the Hui process (a model of Māori patient engagement) (Lacey et al. 2011) and the Meihana Model (a clinical history-taking model) (Pitama et al. 2007) to a clinical scenario involving a Māori patient. Indigenous simulated patients are also utilised within the OSCE components of the fifth-year Hauora Māori vertical module. A curriculum audit was conducted by staff at MIHI using a case study design to explore six Indigenous community members’ experiences as simulated patients. The aim was to identify possible enablers of and barriers to the Indigenous community being involved in Indigenous medical education.
