Clinical Skills in Military Behavioral Health Education: Efficacy of Role Play vs Standardized Actor Patient Training

Abstract The use of Role Play (RP) and Standardized Actor Patients (SAP) have significantly impacted the behavioral health field’s ability to train clinicians in clinical practice and the development of clinical skills. The purpose of this study was to test and compare the effects of RP and SAP in training graduate social work students in the development of military specific clinical skills. Masters of social work students (n = 156) at a university were enrolled in a quasi-experimental study and provided clinical training with the use of either RP or SAP. Participants were measured on their ability to clinically engage with clients and their ability to recognize and responds to symptoms of PTSD and suicide ideation. Participants in both groups demonstrated increases in self-efficacy, clinical engagement, recognizing, and responding to PTSD and suicidal symptoms, and overall performance. Overall significant differences were not found in the development of clinical skills between RP and SAP groups with an exception related to developing a collaborative relationship, with participants in the RP group scoring higher than those in the SAP group. These findings suggest that though SAP and RP appear to be equally effective training modalities, RP may provide advantages in the development of the therapeutic relationship.