John McBride, the patient in room 1, is suffering severe chest pain. Just down the hall in room 3, Andrea Payne's skin and eyes have an unmistakable yellow tinge. And in room 4, Jim Stevenson is covered with a red, itchy rash.

In a few minutes a doctor will examine Mr. McBride. He'll make a diagnosis, suggest a treatment, then move on to the next patient. But Mr. McBride won't get dressed, gather his things and leave. Instead, he'll stay there and be examined over and over and over again.

That may sound like a scene right out of "The Twilight Zone," but it actually happens at UMDNJ-New Jersey Medical School (NJMS). It's a test being administered to medical students and some residents, known as the Objective Structured Clinical Examination, or OSCE for short.

During an OSCE (pronounced os-key), students examine as many as 10 patients, each with a different medical disorder. In a set amount of time, they do a focused history and physical exam, make a diagnosis and, if needed, develop a treatment plan. Their performance is evaluated, including how well they do the examination, solve problems, communicate and show compassion. About one-third of the students are videotaped for later critiquing.

The OSCEs are given to teach and assess students' patient-centered skills. Students must pass them, and by 2003 an OSCE will be included in the U.S. Medical Licensing Exam (USMLE).

Experts agree that hands-on experience is one of the best methods of learning. But where does a school find patients, particularly patients with the same disorders the students are studying? And how do sick people withstand the rigors of repeated examinations? They can't. So patients are created.

OSCE patients are mostly healthy people trained to play the role of a sick person. They're known as standardized patients, or SPs, and have all the necessary qualifications: They can instantly come down with a classic case of whatever illness the students are studying; they are strong enough to undergo numerous examinations; and they memorize scripts, so that the same set of complaints and symptoms - for each illness - is presented to every student. This means the testing is as fair and objective as possible.