Coming to about $60,000 each, these life-like robotic patients were definitely a sight to see. The five hours I spent on Saturday at this unique simulation center were anything but a waste of time.
From snarky diabetic patients to depressed AIDS patients, there was a great variety of personalities and diseases present. But the most intriguing factor wasn't any of the above.
No.
It was the fact that these "patients" could inhale and exhale the way a typical human could, and have pulses in the EXACT sites you would find them on a person. You could feel and count the mentioned pulses and be shocked (and a bit creeped out) by how the veins would bulge out and back in.
The communication between the robot and doctor/nurse/medical student was also something to boast about. Even though you could easily tell there's a man behind a curtain creating the voice, you can't help but get excited when the robot "replies" to your questions. It resembles how the scene would be in an actual health care facility when you interview a patient.
The thing I enjoyed the most about this experience would the robots responses. If you forgot to ask them what they're name was they'd say, "Aren't you going to ask my name?" If you dared to examine them without their permission, they'd say something along the lines of, "Wait, what are you doing? Why are you touching me?!"
The "patient" I'll most likely never forget would be the snarky diabetic mentioned before. When I questioned him on smoking/drinking habits, he replied with his posh Spanish accent, "Why do you need to know how many cigarettes I take? If you give me one now, I'll smoke it in front of ya." Also, none of us examined the lower part of his body (BAD mistake on our part, seeing as how he was missing a leg) so he yelled out, "Sweet Jesus! I'm missing a leg."
All in all, it was quite an amusing and educational experience. And I can't wait until next year where will be exposed to the child and pregnancy simulations.
