Digital Standardized Patients: Lupe Sosa

Lupe Sosa, 21, is a college student who balances a full academic schedule as a philosophy and music double major, along with a work/study job at the library, DJ gigs in local nightclubs, club fencing, and vibrant relationships with their friends and family. Lupe is gender non-binary and uses they/them pronouns. Non-binary people do not identify with the binary gender identities of man or woman. Students can meet Lupe in the Advanced Primary Care: Mental Health* DCE. In the scenario, students help Lupe consider the possible cause of their sleep disturbances.

For Lupe’s character, Shadow Health worked with Trans Equity Consulting, an organization with experience in medical simulation and deep ties to LGBTQ+ communities.

Lupe’s simulation includes a Rapport Building activity where students practice invaluable communication skills. This includes students introducing themselves with their pronouns and establishing how Lupe would like to be referred to. Examples of microaggressions against non-binary patients that could appear in the healthcare setting, including misgendering or refusing to use a patient’s name, are addressed in the Rapport Building activity (National LGBTQ Health Education Center). While these are small steps towards building rapport with patients from vulnerable populations, they have the potential to make a big impact on building rapport with a population that experiences high levels of discrimination and microaggression in healthcare settings.