laughter while observing

[cloud_9]

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I am shadowing a DO who does OMT. Sometimes I really want to laugh when the doctor gets in certain positions combined with watching the expression on the patient's face. I almost laughed the other day (nothing funny about the position, pt was flat) watching the expressions made by the pt (sometimes expressions made by the doctor too) when the doctor was manipulating the pt's neck (doc primes up the neck by slow motions and then quick snap and patient reacting) and combined with the pt saying it hurts more during the manipulation. I held in my laughter by looking away from the doctor and the patient. (Anyway at the end pt said range of motion was better and the neck felt better) Do you find any aspect of OMT funny as an observant or as the one doing OMT? Have you had to control your laughter during OMT or in general when you are in with a patient?

 

[jrf331]

Of course some of the positions are funny, and down right embarrassing. So just laugh, not while shadowing, but laugh in lab and make-fun-of it. I can't remember how many times we made-fun-of different set-ups and techniques. Wait I still do!!!!

Come on, BLT for the sacrum is a pretty dirty set-up

 

[stretch210]

First of all, try not to laugh during shadowing!

There are many positions that you will learn in class that you and your classmates will joke about, it's part of the fun of med school.

As far as the cracking the neck and then laughing my theory on that is it is very much like when you watch those skateboarding videos and the guy comes off the rail and you lands wrong and you see his head just crack the pavement or ankle twist the wrong way, and it is far from being funny haha, but it's like an uncomfortable haha.

Seeing high velocity procedures produces many of the same stimuli. The cracking sound, the face expressions, and the thought of it all together...so your urge to laugh is probably "normal," but DO NOT do it while shadowing.

 

[Ifellinapothole]

counterstrain anterior L5. Love that one.

And piriformis....

generally great techniques on hot chicks

 

[Doc Oc]

Sacral rocking
ischial tuberosity spread
Pubic tenderpoints, or anything where you have to ask the male patient to "adjust his position" prior to palpating


I know it is just the position of those bones in the body and there is nothing shady about what the person performing the technique is doing, but still to regular people, those are not areas that they are used to having the doctor touch!

i agree, BLT of the sacrum and the "frog-leg technique" are the worst!

 

[Sirius Black]

Cloud_9, just reading your post made me crack up. Now I'm gonna start looking at facial expressions when I'm shadowing, haha.

Funniest OMT procedures:
Diagnosis of Thoracic Outlet Syndrome, where the patient raises his arms at 90
degrees and opens/closes the hands (doesn't sound as funny as it looks).
The "Ear Pull" for treating Otitis media

And do any of your instructors call the pubic bones the "pubes"? It's impossible not to laugh when they say that.

 

[mj1878]

OVERHEARD IN OMM LAB:

OMS I(Doctor): Sooo. How far down do I go in order to palpate the pubis?

OMS I (Patient): Well, when your palm is touching my kneecap, I'd say it's time to stop.

OMS I (Doctor): Oops.

 

[luckystar]

This thread reminds me of a time that the attending, four residents, three students, and a nurse started cracking up in a patient's room, at the patient's expense. And it's got nothing to do with OMM.

I was on a Neurology rotation, and before we went to see the patient, we checked out her MRIs. There was no acute disease, but she did have moderate diffuse atrophy, more severe for her age than expected. The patient was doing fine, and was recovering well from something that wasn't serious (I forget what exactly). So the whole team marches in there, and expects the attending to do his routine exam and tell her to go home. He sits down at the foot of her bed, and says, "We just looked at your MRIs. They look fine, but you do have a...well, you have a small brain!". One of the residents lets out an awkward giggle, and then we all couldn't hold back - the attending starts guffawing, the patient's sister starts making fun of her, saying things like, "all these years, I knew your brain was smaller, remember when you did this and this". Gosh, it was just awful, but so damn hilarious.

It's hard not to laugh at things you find funny while with a patient, especially when you have people around that find it equally funny. However, the only time it's safe to laugh audibly is when the attending is doing so as well. And of course, there will be plenty of times when you'll share a good laugh after you leave the patient room. Enjoy your shadowing!

 

[Dr JPH]

It's hard not to laugh at things you find funny while with a patient, especially when you have people around that find it equally funny. However, the only time it's safe to laugh audibly is when the attending is doing so as well. And of course, there will be plenty of times when you'll share a good laugh after you leave the patient room. Enjoy your shadowing!

Excellent point.