First physical examination

[JibsGuy52]

Hi - OMS-1 here.

Just had our first physical exam and I was doing great until I accidentally flipped the patient and grabbed the wrong limb that was affected. I feel really stupid right now. Any words of encouragement? How bad is this?

I ended up correcting myself, but due to some help from the Sp.

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[68PGunner]

Chill out.. that's what the sp lab is for. Next time, make sure to put on some gloves and perform the prostrate exam and anal wink test.

 

[acapnial]

Hi - OMS-1 here.

Just had our first physical exam and I was doing great until I accidentally flipped the patient and grabbed the wrong limb that was affected. I feel really stupid right now. Any words of encouragement? How bad is this?

I ended up correcting myself, but due to some help from the Sp.

When you're very early in learning physical exams it's easy to focus so much on whether you're doing the exam correctly that you lose sight of the bigger picture stuff in the patient's presentation. Perfectly normal. As you get better and can do the exam correctly without thinking about it this sort of thing won't be an issue anymore. Besides, you should be examining both sides to get a sense of if there's asymmetry anyway.

 

[ortnakas]

This is part of why patients are told to write NOT THIS KNEE on their right knee if they're getting their left ACL repaired.

You're a first year, you learned something, you'll do better next time, don't fret about it.

 

[DO2015CA]

Meh. OSCEs are lame anyways. You get more comfortable by the end of first year

 

[BorntobeDO?]

This is part of why patients are told to write NOT THIS KNEE on their right knee if they're getting their left ACL repaired.

You're a first year, you learned something, you'll do better next time, don't fret about it.

Thats the exact opposite of what people where told at the hospitals I worked at in the past. We only want marks on the knee we are going after. Nobody wants the OR nurse getting confused and thinking that writing is the surgeons initials (why we switched to 'yes' instead of initials in the first place). I did find it funny when patients wrote 'not this one' on the nonoperative side tho.

 

[ortnakas]

Thats the exact opposite of what people where told at the hospitals I worked at in the past. We only want marks on the knee we are going after. Nobody wants the OR nurse getting confused and thinking that writing is the surgeons initials (why we switched to 'yes' instead of initials in the first place). I did find it funny when patients wrote 'not this one' on the nonoperative side tho.

Fair point-- admittedly I was trying to go for comic effect to make OP feel a little better. Either way, though, there's a reason we have to mark which side. OP isn't the first or the last to get mixed up, and luckily he/she did it in the lowest stakes scenario ever, and will be just fine.

 

[pseud0]

idk how it is at your school but we only have 1 graded patient encounter per semester. The rest are just practice and to get you comfortable. Don't worry about it

 

[AnatomyGrey12]

perform the prostrate exam and anal wink test.

And don't forget to check the anal tone

How do you tell if someone has good anal tone?

 

[68PGunner]

And don't forget to check the anal tone

How do you tell if someone has good anal tone?

Just use this this opportunity as good prep for that GI fellowship. That's what those SPs are being paid the big bucks for...