Randy Risher

Randy Risher
Teaching Instructor, Theatre Arts
risherr22@ecu.edu
252-744-1264
ECU Medical Campus
Mail Stop 627
East Carolina University

Randy Risher [he/him] is an actor, trainer, and interprofessional artist with positions in both ECU School of Theatre and Dance [SoTD] and ECU Office of Clinical Skills Assessment and Education [OCSAE] at Brody School of Medicine. He created and teaches a Standardized Patient [SP] acting course to SoTD students called Being Human: Empathy, Presence, and the Standardized Patient. The curriculum is designed to prepare participants for role-play work in clinical skills healthcare education, providing paid acting opportunities for actors interested in applied theatre experiences. OCSAE has been delighted to hire many of those who have completed the class and ultimately encourage them on to the clinical skills programs of the world.

He has 20+ years of experience in acting performance, theatre education, and applied theatre. Recent acting roles include Hertz in ECU Summer Theatre’s Rock of Ages, Tracy Mills in Live Arts’ The Legend of Georgia McBride, Tilney in Virginia Rep’s Shakespeare in Love, David in Virginia Theatre Festival’s Company, Orgon in UVA Drama’s Tartuffe, Horst in Threshold Rep’s Bent, Patsy in Village Rep’s Spamalot, Stanley in Footlight Players’ A Streetcar Named Desire, and Rooster in Charleston Stage Company’s Annie. Randy has taught a range of acting classes for elementary school children through undergraduate theatre majors. He is currently working on a book about applied theatre as it relates to acting in clinical simulations and, along with Trent Blanton, developing new courses for a future healthcare artist credential.

Randy is originally from Charleston, SC where he received a BA in Theatre Performance from College of Charleston before attending University of Virginia for an MFA in Acting. He currently trains SPs as patients to interact with healthcare students in formative and summative scenarios at OCSAE.

He is a Certified Healthcare Simulation Educator [CHSE], bestowed by the The Society for Simulation in Healthcare, and an active member and workshop presenter with the Association of Standardized Patient Educators [ASPE]. Randy is also a certified Medical Improvisation trainer.

Randy lives in Winterville with his professional violinist husband, Jake, and a pit-bully mix named Eeyore who has deigned to allow them the privilege of cohabitation and feeding duties.