The study entitled “Simulated Patients as Evaluators in Admission Interviews: Reliability Analysis”, presented by Rodrigo Sousa in co-authorship with Paulo Oom and Sanne Schreurs, was recognized at the 5th National Congress of Clinical Communication in Healthcare, held under the theme “Clinical Communication in the Age of Artificial Intelligence”. The event was organized by the Portuguese Society for Clinical Communication in Healthcare (SP3CS) in collaboration with the Faculty of Medicine of Universidade do Porto.

The study analyzed the reliability of simulated patients (trained actors) as evaluators in the Multiple Mini Interviews (MMI) used in the Católica Medical School admission process. The results showed a strong correlation between the evaluations of simulated patients and interviewers, reinforcing the potential of this model to make selection processes more rigorous, scalable, and focused on communication and empathy — essential competencies in contemporary medical education.