Tag Archives: physical exam skills

Hacks to Build Patient Rapport In An Instant

Share

How medical students learn to start off patient interactions on the right foot

  • Short Coat Listener Josh wrote in to share some hacks he uses to get grumpy patients on his side the moment he walks into the exam room.
  • Co-hosts Jessica, Aline, Hannah, and Riley share their own techniques on managing those first few seconds of the patient visit.
  • Plus, many tangents along those lines, such as when not to use ‘quips’ and humor with patients and bosses.

We Want to Hear From You: YOUR VOICE MATTERS!

No matter where you fall on any spectrum, we want your thoughts on our show.  Do you agree or disagree with something we said today?  Did you hear something really helpful?  Are we delivering a podcast you want to keep listening to?  We’ll be sure your ideas are heard by all–leave a message at 347-SHORTCT (347-746-7828) and we’ll put your message in a future episode (use *67 to be an “Unknown caller”).

We want to know more about you: Take the Listener Survey

Continue reading Hacks to Build Patient Rapport In An Instant

Real, and Fake, Research Day

Share

public health photo
Photo by Arenamontanus

We’ve got a crowd of M1s in the house rapidly approaching the end of their first year.  This past week, Kylie Jade Miller, Levi Endelman, Adam Erwood, and new co-host Irene Morcuende took their physical exam skills practical exam; and they discussed some research they did at the intersections of medical and society–the public health implications of the American-as-apple-pie cycle of  incarceration, the effects of Medicare expansion have had on access to mental healthcare, what happens when substance abuse sufferers are offered clean needle and Narcan, and whether taxing sugary drinks have an effect on obesity.  Dave, seeing an opportunity to torture his co-hosts, put them through a Pop Quiz: can they discern if the research he presents to them is real or from the depths of Dave’s mind? Kylie uses the occasion to let her secret gunner out.  Listeners, we offer free advice!  Call us at 347-SHORTCT anytime, or email us at theshortoats@gmail.com.

Continue reading Real, and Fake, Research Day

‘Fake Patients’ and Students: a Meeting of the Minds

Share

Few students like exams.  That probably wasn’t close-to-mind when, in 1999, the Liaison Committee on Medical Education, which accredits medical colleges, decreed that the Carver College of Medicine would incorporate clinical skills assessment into the curriculum.  Then, in 2004, the National Board of Medical Examiners began using the Step II Clinical Skills test as part of the United States Medical Licensing Examination.  This Step, one of the three that seeks to ensure students are becoming competent doctors, required students to demonstrate their clinical skills on live actors.  These actors played standardized roles so that the examination results would be meaningful.

So it was that the University of Iowa Carver College of Medicine, and MD programs across the country, created the Performance-Based Assessment Program.  The PBA program was charged with preparing third-year students for this new exam. They did this the exact same way the NBME did it: by hiring actors to portray patients with various complaints to test what third- and fourth-year students had learned about interviewing such patients.

Since then the program has grown tremendously.  Now they don’t just test medical students, but they teach them as well.  Things like general physical exam skills, PE skills specific to male and female patients, communication skills, and a lot more.

On this episode, students Cole Cheney, Senuri Jayatilleka, Michael Zhang, and Keenan Laraway joined simulated patients JC Luxton and Mary Nell Jackson meet for a little debate and an exchange of views on their roles as students and ‘fake patients.’ 

Listen to Episode 026 – Who Are These People, Anyway? Simulated Patients and Students.

The opinions expressed in this feed and podcast are not those of the University of Iowa or the Roy J. and Lucille A. Carver College of Medicine.