My preceptor went ahead to double check whether the patient was willing to speak with me. I heard a woman’s voice and tried to imagine what she looked like-was that a Caribbean accent I heard? My preceptor drew back the curtain and introduced me to the patient. Then he turned and strolled out of the room to leave me alone with Mrs. Washington.*
Jake Prigoff, Class of 2016, discusses Clinical Skills Week, a week at ISMMS dedicated to preparing students for their third year of medical school.
Jake Prigoff is an MD candidate, Class of 2016
I’ve had experience interviewing adolescents before. I worked at the Adolescent Health Center for most of a semester in my first year of medical school. But this was the first time I would interview an adolescent patient alone, and perform the physical exam. I was a bit nervous.
I walked into the room to find a tall, thin, young woman lying nearly supine, bundled in hospital bed sheets. Her father sat in the green, rubbery chair beside her bed. The girl’s pale face nearly blended into the bed sheets that enveloped her. I introduced myself and asked for her name. Veronica.
Fareedat Oluyadi, Class of 2016, discusses lectures being optional.
Fareedat Oluyadi is an MD Candidate, Class of 2016
I met Marlene when her dreams were interrupted at 5 a.m. Monday morning. She opened her eyes to a swarm of white coats crowding around her bed. She then weathered a few minutes of rapid-fire questions about nausea and bowel movements.
It was morning rounds on my first day of my surgery rotation at Icahn School of Medicine at Mount Sinai, and Marlene was much more accustomed to this whirlwind pre-dawn ritual than I. She had been in the hospital since Friday, when she had decided that the past week of vomiting and abdominal pain warranted a trip to the emergency room.
