You Don't Need Luck ... You Need A Miracle .... Part III
There was a major change of plan for the weekend as instead of going back to Penang, we will be heading to Ipoh tomorrow. Since I was kind of free in the afternoon, I took a stroll to the Orchid Garden in Taman Tasik. Weather was gorgeous. Took my camera out for a spin. I thought I post a couple of the picture on this update.
After some rest I thought I sit down and finish off my series of tips. We are now down to the short cases. This is a double-edged sword. It is easy to pass, it is also easy to fail if you are not careful. And if you are lucky and confident, you can breeze through it.
I will just comment in terms of Medical stations. The possible scenario will require you to be able to demonstrate ability to examine systems that can be listed as - Cardio, Respiratory, Abdominal, Cranial nerves, Neuro upper limbs, Neuro lower limbs and special system. The special systems include thyroid status, thyroid eye disease, common skin lesions (cellulitis, eczema, psoriasis), rheumatoid hands etc. The last group is basically a pot luck of cases!
Neurological cases are the most dreaded, maybe because lack of practice. It is very common to get neurological examination of the lower limbs, which all of you should score but in general are badly done in exam situations. If you take your time, even the cranial nerve examination can be taken in stride.
For the systems, you should have developed your routine by now. Remember the rules of first introducing yourself to your patient, then to ask if they are comfortable or in pain. You then explain that you need to examine them and expose them. You will then observe them from the edge of the bed. You then start with the patient's hands, unless it is the cranial nerves or lower limbs. In the special systems, if you are uncertain, always expose the patient, then start from the hands.
There is no substitute for practice unfortunately. If you are not prepared at this point, they is nothing much you can do but to practice your steps. Practice on your friends even though there are no pathology to be had. When I was a student, I printed all the steps in each of the examination procedures on a piece of paper and go through each one of them in sequence. I still have a copy of them when I was preparing for my MRCP. I gave the soft copies to your seniors. If you guys are interested, you can download it from this link. Not sure if it will make much difference. However at this hour, every little things help! Happy hunting!
Well, you win some, you lose some ..... well done Fulham!