We had our first standardized patient yesterday. Usually, these test "patients" are spouses who come in so that we can practice talking to patients. I have to admit, even though it was a controlled setting, I still felt pretty nervous and it showed in my performance as it was suggested that I slow down while I was talking. Oh well, I hit the major points (introduce yourself, explain your position, and then allow the patient to begin speaking about their chief concerns) at the least.
We then went into the Harvey lab. Harvey, is a simulated patient which allows us to hear different, abnormal heart rhythms. We were able to listen to murmurs, heaves, thrills, and lifts, which are all different types of heart beat abnormalities. It's interesting to see all the variations, but also seems difficult to tell the difference in a real world examination. I suppose these get easier with time.
I sort of felt like a doctor, which is both exciting and scary at the same time. I don't mind the classroom stuff, since that has not really changed since I first started school. But now these human interactions with the intention of providing care for another person is a pretty daunting task. I imagine it gets easier with time, but it sure seems like a big task to take one.
These last 3 weeks of class are going to be tough. The marathon is winding down, but it does get hard to keep up the pace. The addition of ICM doesn't help either, since it takes 2 hours out of my afternoon. Normally, I would be sleeping or eating during that time.
I can't wait to get home, spend time with my nieces and nephew, see my family and fiancee... and play some video games. I need to load up Win7 64-bit on my desktop (so that I cant finally take full advantage of the 4GB of RAM I bought). Matt told me Left 4 Dead 2 is coming out soon, so I'll need to buy that and mindlessly blow away zombies when I get a chance. Still waiting on StarCraft II and still watching Korean pro matches to get my fix of good SC while I wait.
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