Confessions of a Human Nerve Ending

            Under the white hospital gown, I am wearing underwear and I'm waiting for the Doctor. The room is bare; next to the ceiling a small digital video camera is trained down to film my next interaction.               Despite what it looks like, I'm not a patient and I'm not really visiting a doctor. No: I'm a standardized patient at the university medical school, and am administering a test to medical students. Today, I'm a patient with a "Duodenal ulcer" and I'm in a lot of pain.             As third-year students, they are to interview me, obtain a relevant medical history, perform a simple diagnostic examination, make an initial diagnosis, explain a treatment plan, and do it all within 15 minutes while I grudgingly answer and make sure they understand how much pain I'm in.     ...