‘They’re called what?’

Dear Editor > ‘They’re called what? Standardised patients—you must be kidding. That’s so dehumanising!’ [Patient advocate being oriented to healthcare simulation practices] We welcome the invitation from Sanko et al (2020) to seek clarity of terms used to describe what we know as ‘simulated participants’.1 While seeking a common language has great value as Sanko et al eloquently describe, we place even greater value on the use of inclusive, respectful and sensitive language. For over 15 years, the authors have variously flagged issues associated with the use of the terms simulated patient and standardised patient .2–5 Our argument with using standardised before the word patient is that it is in tension with values of patient-centredness and person-centredness and, …