(File photo)

"Hello, doctor. I smoke and drink. This morning, I vomited with blood…"

65-year-old Meng Peiling is a "medical model". She acted as a 56-year-old male gastrorrhagia patient at the medical record writing competition held by Zhejiang Provincial People's Hospital on June 26, 2016.

A total of 36 "medical models" including Meng Peiling were publicly recruited and trained for a half year by Zhejiang Provincial People's Hospital. They will play the role of patients during the doctor evaluations, simulation teaching, medical competitions and so on.

The medical record writing competition was the first time that the "medical models" have applied their "acting skills".

"Three days before the competition I got the material of the 'patient' I would play, including the gender, age, occupation, living habits, medical history and clinical manifestations. We will try to act like a real patient," said Meng Peiling. 

Ying Zhenhua, the director of the Education Department of Zhejiang Provincial People's Hospital, said that the "medical models" began to receive training since this January and their lessons include almost all the common diseases and their symptoms and pathogenesis. 

The "medical models" not only act as the patient, but also are examiners of the doctors. They will evaluate doctors in terms of their dialogue with and attitude towards the patents and the details of their medical examinations. Meng Peiling said, "I played patients for three doctors a day. And I graded their performance."