Clinical Exams!

Heh, this'll be my first clinical exam (currently in Obstetrics & Gynecology). Monday, all the theory stuff. Thursday, the killer clinical stuff. I'm totally unprepared. Some good lessons for subsequent postings:

1) MCQ's are your friend, just like during the preclinical years. 380 questions with about 5 sub-questions each helps you cover a LOT of topics.

2) Worry about the common things first, you are definitely more likely to fail from "easy" patients than the "hard" ones.

3) It's always best to not know about the patients you see until you clerk them. Being biased will get you assed (it's not a real word).

4) Practice getting all the history in 25 minutes. Don't go back to your patients when finished if you miss. That's military mental punishment.

5) Patient's history might not be accurate. Scrutinize it. Practice presenting cases. Criticize yourself and others' approach to case presentation and physical examination.