Taking Notes

[zion]

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Hey everybody.

During preceptorships and on clinical rounds how do you all take notes on what is presented? Do you use a clip board with xerox paper, have a little notebook (ie like a mini-spiral bound notebook), etc. I'm trying to find a method that works well so that I'll be able to read my own handwriting when trying to write SOAPs on what was previously presented.

Thanks.

 

[Gulliver]

 

[zion]

...

 

[neilc]

personally, i have made it a point to avoid note taking...it really is ineffecient, as i find myself just trying to write things down and i actually wind up missing more. so, for the last year, i just go in and listen...and, i remember pretty much all the details from each case, which really surprised me.

it is a good habit to get into, and if you actively listen, you will pretty much remember everything....

 

[AF_PedsBoy]

I like carrying sheets of paper folded into quarters and then if we have a lecture where there's something actually worth writing down (like some nifty pearl or mnemonic) I can jot it down and then shove it back into my pocket. It's handy for doodling too -

it blends right in with my patient logs - The folded into quarters thing works pretty well. That way I write an abbreviated H&P, meds list, and labs from my intake on the front. Then as days go by, when I see them in the morning I go to the next "sheet" and write a SOAP note, and during attending rounds I jot their plan on the bottom of the day's "quarter". This way if anyone asks you about their hospital course you can just page back, and it reminds me what I have to ask them the next morning since they all start blending togather...

...but taking notes helps me say awake in particularly boring lectures. It also gets them used to me jotting so when I'm making my To-do/grocery list no one looks too closely at my "notes"

 

[Rod Farva]

Hey everybody.

During preceptorships and on clinical rounds how do you all take notes on what is presented? Do you use a clip board with xerox paper, have a little notebook (ie like a mini-spiral bound notebook), etc. I'm trying to find a method that works well so that I'll be able to read my own handwriting when trying to write SOAPs on what was previously presented.

Thanks.

I carry a pocket recorder and record what the attendings/residents say in rounds, then I replay this at night and take notes on what was said in rounds. I then go through and highlight these notes, putting the important "pearls" into a master notebook at the end of every rotation.

And I'm a virgin, go figure.

 

[double elle]

There are several people at my hospital who have little notebooks in their breast pocket - stuff they've written down in there since rotations. You know, just little things you hear in lecture and think "that may come in handy" so you jot it down. I have a little leather bound book that is about the size of a 3 X 5 card that I write stuff in. I have it separated into Cardiology/EKG, Pharm, Medicine, Surgery, Peds and maybe something else I can't remember. I have Peds dosing for common meds in there, the Chemo nausea/vomiting cocktail we use at our hospital, how to dose vanc and gent, etc....just stuff that I reference once in a while. It's been really handy so far.

As for taking notes in lectures - sometimes I do. Today I did because it was about pain management for terminal cancer patients. Pain meds are a pain in my backside - I can't remember the difference between them - so, the lecturer had this nice little chart that I quickly copied down. I will transfer it into my little notebook.

Also, sometimes, I take very careful notes just to keep awake....don't do anything with them.

 

[zion]

Thanks 👍

There are several people at my hospital who have little notebooks in their breast pocket - stuff they've written down in there since rotations. You know, just little things you hear in lecture and think "that may come in handy" so you jot it down. I have a little leather bound book that is about the size of a 3 X 5 card that I write stuff in. I have it separated into Cardiology/EKG, Pharm, Medicine, Surgery, Peds and maybe something else I can't remember. I have Peds dosing for common meds in there, the Chemo nausea/vomiting cocktail we use at our hospital, how to dose vanc and gent, etc....just stuff that I reference once in a while. It's been really handy so far.

As for taking notes in lectures - sometimes I do. Today I did because it was about pain management for terminal cancer patients. Pain meds are a pain in my backside - I can't remember the difference between them - so, the lecturer had this nice little chart that I quickly copied down. I will transfer it into my little notebook.

Also, sometimes, I take very careful notes just to keep awake....don't do anything with them.

 

[electra]

I agree with DoubleElle. I also carried a small notebook and just wrote down basically names/words/procedures etc. that I needed to look up when I had free time. I wasn't scribbling all the time by any means. But it did allow me to put some pearls into my head that stuck.

And, face it, you don't remember everything you hear. The cardiology attending who told you about that trial/new medication/indication for revascularization procedure etc, might be the one writing your eval. And she/he might ask about it again. And how embarrasing would that be...if you heard about it in the days before and then couldn't remember jack when asked.

This is an amusing thread...a legitimate question asked and largely answered with smart aleck replies...about the same time the "you can only get honors if you kiss ^$$, not necessarily because you had any idea what was going on" thread showed up.

 

[ericdamiansean]

I swear by my clip board, and some paper in it..never got used to the small note books that my female colleagues use..they do a pretty nifty job juggling it around