Holy **** I'm starting third year!!!

[ForbiddenComma]

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First day was not bad... I swear, the orientation was a lot worse due to sheer boredom from sleeping through HIPAA lecture number 23...

For pimping, I still haven't figured out the eternal question: If you don't know the answer... is it better to make an educated guess, or just say "I don't know sir"?? 😕

 

[arthrodisiac]

depends. i came across a lot of a-hole attendings this year, and for them, i didnt know. For a normal attending, i always took a guess. this is why i hate 3rd year evaluations, they have nothing to do with you. they are merely a self reflective psych eval of the attending filling out the paper.

 

[Richie Truxillo]

Some will disagree with me but I was always honest with my attendings and said "I don't know but I'll look it up this evening." Remember, you're still here to learn throughout your 3rd year and as such, learning should be your top priority.

Heck, I just started my 4th year and I saw my first Glomus tumor (Tympanicum Jugulare) for the first time today when looking in a patients ear. And I wasn't afraid to tell my preceptor in the hallway and I quote:

"I have no idea what the heck that is behind that ear drum but it's big, red and scary looking. What is that thing?"

To which he replied with the above answer, stating that it is very rare, and then even went as far as to show me a couple pictures in a book.

So moral of the story? Be honest and always ask questions. Oh and try not to sweat the grades if you can.

 

[lord_jeebus]

When I don't know the answer, I like to verbalize my thought process as I approach a guess.

If I'm right, I'm right; if I'm wrong, at least it doesn't seem like a stupid guess.

But if the question is really random and can't be approached with reasoning (eg. "what is Xeroform made of?" or "Who was Wilder Penfield?"), I just go with a quick "I don't know." Hasn't seemed to effect my evaluations.

 

[getunconcsious]

Some will disagree with me but I was always honest with my attendings and said "I don't know but I'll look it up this evening." Remember, you're still here to learn throughout your 3rd year and as such, learning should be your top priority.

Heck, I just started my 4th year and I saw my first Glomus tumor (Tympanicum Jugulare) for the first time today when looking in a patients ear. And I wasn't afraid to tell my preceptor in the hallway and I quote:



To which he replied with the above answer, stating that it is very rare, and then even went as far as to show me a couple pictures in a book.

So moral of the story? Be honest and always ask questions. Oh and try not to sweat the grades if you can.

Hi, I'd like to disagree with you on that learning should be my top priority. Actually, the grade is my top priority. I only try to learn stuff that I think could be useful for one of my fields of interest. The rest I just fake (cervical exams would be a good example of this). But it's important to PRETEND to want to learn stuff b/c it gets you good evals. 😎

 

[jennyboo]

For pimping, I still haven't figured out the eternal question: If you don't know the answer... is it better to make an educated guess, or just say "I don't know sir"?? 😕

If it's a fairly educated guess, present your answer with confidence.

If you don't know, looking someone in the eye and saying "I don't know" will get you one hell of an easier time than "Ummmm...." and hedging. Don't hedge. This is the most useful piece of advice I ever got during my clinical rotations from an attending physician, and he was right. "I don't know" will get you right off the hook without making you look stupid.

 

[ChildNeuro]

Some attendings I had wanted the student to say, "I don't know" if the student really didn't know the answer. I think saying "I don't know" is fine, you could always preface it with, "That's an interesting question, I'm not quite sure what the answer is." and then look it up and discuss it the next day. Other attendings go around to everyone in the group and want everybody to say something, even if they are off the mark, because then they explain the correct management, procedure etc . . . I think the important thing is to be interested, instead of mummbling "I don't know" and looking off into space, or giving a non-sense answer and looking like you'd rather be anywhere else.

 

[raidermedic]

If you're in a good mood the correct answer would be "I don't know but I will look it up and tell you the next time we round."

If you're tired and don't want to answer an asinine question then "I don't know" with a stern or disinterested look also works.

 

[Top Gun]

Yes, a good response to an attending is to say "I don't know, but I will look it up and tell you tomorrow" if you don't know the answer to the question. I had one SICU attending who, if you tried to make an educated guess to the answer of a question, would say something along the lines of "Cut the bullsh*t!" However, he would accept "I don't know" as an answer.

 

[kito]

The difference between...

If you're in a good mood the correct answer would be "I don't know but I will look it up and tell you the next time we round."

Third year.

If you're tired and don't want to answer an asinine question then "I don't know" with a stern or disinterested look also works.

Fourth year. 😍