We had our student clinical exam the other day, where we have to walk in to a patient’s room, and interview, examine, counsel, and come up with a plan in 15 minutes. Then we get 10 minutes to write a note.
Honestly, I thought it was loads of fun. I really enjoyed the pacing, I loved the idea that there wasn’t an attending or resident hanging over my head checking my work (that being said, I would have been freaked out if this was real life… knowing that the only consequence was my own score was really nice), and I liked having to think on my toes.
That said, I’ve got a long, long way to go before I’m comfortable practicing medicine. I didn’t know the “right answer” for at least 2 of my patients… and although I can fool the test by writing down 3 reasonable differential diagnoses, it doesn’t cut it when it’s a real person.
