PittDO1787
New Member
- Joined
- Sep 4, 2019
- Messages
- 6
- Reaction score
- 7
Hey guys,
Figured I'd write this post, since a lot of people seem to panic a bit after the PE (understandably so.)
After the PE, I walked out feeling OK. Felt pretty good about the humanistic portion, and managed to finish all of my notes. However, as time went on, I began to remember all of the mistakes I had made.
Here's a list of some of the things I remember:
-Did not always lead with an open-ended question
-Forgot to address vitals with patients when I certainly should have
-Forgot what setting I was in a couple of times, so I would tell patients something as if we were in an office setting when we were actually in the ER
-Forgot to wash my hands once (caught myself after I had already done a portion of the physical)
-Had a couple of tricky cases, so my assessments and plans weren't very great for those. One case I had no idea what to do...didn't figure out what was most likely going on until after I submitted my note
-Forgot to order a lot of obvious tests for patients
-Did not drape a patient when I should have
-Physical exams were OK, but could have definitely been more thorough
I could go on and on.
A couple of other things. There is no need to drape every single patient, only drape the ones where it is absolutely necessary (i.e. abdominal exams.) I've seen debates on whether or not you should pull the gown down to listen to the heart versus going through the side of the gown. I had the patient lower their gowns....as long as you explain what you're doing/ask for permission, you will be fine.
You will not fail this exam for forgetting to wash your hands once. You will not fail for not knowing everything. And you will certainly not fail for not remembering to do everything with your patients. If you are empathetic, if you explain what you are doing, if you truly make an effort with all of your patients, and if you finish the majority of your notes....then you will most likely be just fine.
Take the exam seriously, and trust what you know. Good luck to everyone waiting for scores and to everyone waiting to take the exam!
Figured I'd write this post, since a lot of people seem to panic a bit after the PE (understandably so.)
After the PE, I walked out feeling OK. Felt pretty good about the humanistic portion, and managed to finish all of my notes. However, as time went on, I began to remember all of the mistakes I had made.
Here's a list of some of the things I remember:
-Did not always lead with an open-ended question
-Forgot to address vitals with patients when I certainly should have
-Forgot what setting I was in a couple of times, so I would tell patients something as if we were in an office setting when we were actually in the ER
-Forgot to wash my hands once (caught myself after I had already done a portion of the physical)
-Had a couple of tricky cases, so my assessments and plans weren't very great for those. One case I had no idea what to do...didn't figure out what was most likely going on until after I submitted my note
-Forgot to order a lot of obvious tests for patients
-Did not drape a patient when I should have
-Physical exams were OK, but could have definitely been more thorough
I could go on and on.
A couple of other things. There is no need to drape every single patient, only drape the ones where it is absolutely necessary (i.e. abdominal exams.) I've seen debates on whether or not you should pull the gown down to listen to the heart versus going through the side of the gown. I had the patient lower their gowns....as long as you explain what you're doing/ask for permission, you will be fine.
You will not fail this exam for forgetting to wash your hands once. You will not fail for not knowing everything. And you will certainly not fail for not remembering to do everything with your patients. If you are empathetic, if you explain what you are doing, if you truly make an effort with all of your patients, and if you finish the majority of your notes....then you will most likely be just fine.
Take the exam seriously, and trust what you know. Good luck to everyone waiting for scores and to everyone waiting to take the exam!