How to Be a Good Research Study Patient

Having participated in research studies for extra money on the side since 1992 off and on, I have learned some lessons about how to be a good "test subject" for medical students.

Always be on time. I can't stress this enough. You have a whole class of med students and sometimes professors/doctors waiting on you and they're on a tight schedule. I have recruited various friends through the years and the numer one thing that makes some of them not get used again is tardiness.

Study your script. Often the research coordinator will email each research volunteer a script to study. If you can't study it ahead of time, study it in between each student's exam of you. Before the end of the day you'll know it by heart.

Dress appropriately. Women are often told to wear sports bras and underwear as they go through the head-to-toe physical exam by med students. Nothing is more embarrassing than going through these exams and forgetting to wear a bra. In that case, the student is forced to examine the patient through the gown and the exam is not as effective. (Source: Dr. Thomas Dayberry).

Don't complain. Even if you're sick or tired the research coordinator, doctors, fellow volunteers, and med students don't want or need to hear it. Unless you're deathly sick and have to leave or it's affecting your performance, it's best to keep it to yourself. The research coordinator may not use you much or in the future if she hears you complaining all the time. Plus it takes away your focus which is to be the best patient you can be, benefitting both you and the student, the latter of whom is being graded for their efforts.

You can joke around to break the ice but not excessivly, lest the student loses their concentration. Plus it takes up time that they are being graded for and since it is a timed exam, every minute counts for them to get the best grade possible and all the information needed from you, the patient.