How to impress on ward round

[RTSY]

Year 3 med student doing a surgical rotation. We are rotated to one team every two weeks (E.g. colorectal, upper GI, endocrine etc) and have to ask the consultants to fill up a form to rate us, which will go into our final grade. The form rates us on how well we performed as part of the ward team.

As someone with (diagnosed) social anxiety, I've just spent the ward rounds looking nervous/stupid and hiding at the back of the large team. I have literally ZERO idea how to build rapport with anyone in the team, let alone the consultant who is supposed to grade me. Today, the consultant asked me and a year 5 student in the same team whether we had any questions, but I was tongue-tied and stood there watching the year 5 student ask intelligent questions. And I came at 6.30am to pre-clerk patients, but none of the info that I collected was useful.

I'm not even catastrophisizing if I say that this pattern is likely to continue for the rest of my life, where I can't impress bosses/consultants in a team setting and spend my whole life looking timid and dense.

Summary: how do you build rapport or make a good impression during ward rounds as a med student?

Would appreciate any advice thanks.

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[RTSY]

@yanks26dmb Just started seeing a psychiatrist because I cried during a few of my weekly assessments and got reported to the school by the consultants who were grading me; yes I suck that much. He offered me SSRIs (definitely not BZDs haha) but I've taken them before and they made me lethargic/apathetic. He decided against pharmaco mgt and is referring me for Cognitive Behavioral Therapy; heard that it actually works so fingers crossed.

Because crying is stigmatized and unprofessional, I've already ruined my reputation in two hospitals that I was posted to, so I guess seeing a psychiatrist is absolutely necessary.

Social anxiety is really debilitating in a people-based job. And the irony is that I enjoy talking to patients, I just hate taking history or doing physical examination on them while being watched by other students/consultants because I know they are judging me for being so incompetent and stupid.

Anyway, I hope you get help. It's sad that medical students/doctors often don't take care of themselves or try to ignore psychological issues. If your school doesnt have a good support system, do you have the $$ to just get help privately?

 

[Brorthopedic]

@yanks26dmb
Social anxiety is really debilitating in a people-based job. And the irony is that I enjoy talking to patients, I just hate taking history or doing physical examination on them while being watched by other students/consultants because I know they are judging me for being so incompetent and stupid.

It's important to constantly remind yourself that you are still learning. Sometimes being incompetent is perfectly fine as a medical student as long as you still work on improving yourself. This thought process may help take some stress off of your shoulders.

Best of luck.

 

[Redpancreas]

Year 3 med student doing a surgical rotation. We are rotated to one team every two weeks (E.g. colorectal, upper GI, endocrine etc) and have to ask the consultants to fill up a form to rate us, which will go into our final grade. The form rates us on how well we performed as part of the ward team.

As someone with (diagnosed) social anxiety, I've just spent the ward rounds looking nervous/stupid and hiding at the back of the large team. I have literally ZERO idea how to build rapport with anyone in the team, let alone the consultant who is supposed to grade me. Today, the consultant asked me and a year 5 student in the same team whether we had any questions, but I was tongue-tied and stood there watching the year 5 student ask intelligent questions. And I came at 6.30am to pre-clerk patients, but none of the info that I collected was useful.

I'm not even catastrophisizing if I say that this pattern is likely to continue for the rest of my life, where I can't impress bosses/consultants in a team setting and spend my whole life looking timid and dense.

Summary: how do you build rapport or make a good impression during ward rounds as a med student?

Would appreciate any advice thanks.

I'm no psychiatrist and suffer from some anxiety myself but here's my take which may help some. NOTE: if you suffer from debilitating anxiety, please don't convince yourself otherwise and see a psychiatrist.

That being said I feel the root of anxiety is uncertainty. It's terrifying opening your mouth and risk opening your mouth to say something that the resident may snap at if it is stupid. Instead place your uncertainty on something you can believe in or something you can stand for which makes you feel strong. Either surrender to God and do whatever you think he or she would approve of (not my cup of tea personally) or take an ideal/embodiment of how you want to live your life and continually use it to shoulder. Ones I use are similar to stuff you see professional coaches utter at redundant news conferences. "If we work hard, identify weaknesses, and keep at it, success will come"... or "one day/game at a time...Rome wasn't built in a day"...Stuff like that.

Anyways it may not cure an actual case of social anxiety but it may help some.


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[Phloston]

https://forums.studentdoctor.net/th...m-for-clinical-rotations-by-phloston.1203520/

If you're interested, I had actually written a PDF on this stuff after I finished med school. Point #11 I go into ward rounds a bit more in detail.

Hope that helps!