News Flash: Your school isn't doing this to teach you some valuable lesson. They are doing this because they can't afford to hire standardized patients. Now that we are clear on that, carry on.
I was thinking the same thing. Although all the long hours and crappy eating have taken me out of that category now. I'm even getting friggin gray hairs. sigh ......).
For what its worth, I doubt it matters all that much in the end how much or with whom you have practiced PE's with. It's just important to know how to do a generally adequate exam, however that goal is reached. Your skills will ultimately be honed on real patients with real pathologies, hopefully with the guidance of your residents and attendings during the clinical years and in residency. If one doesn't want to practice with classmates it's perfectly understandable. Everyone has different comfort zones and learning styles.
At my school we definitely learned on each other. I appreciated the uncomfortable moments of feeling a femoral and exposing body parts. It just taught me how to properly warn and cover a patient throughout the physical exam. Short of exposing our genital, breasts and buttocks we do every single part of every single physical exam on each other. The only time we did anything over clothes was when we had to palpate the ischial bursa on each other. If females were uncomfortable with a male partner, they could request another female but I think that was rare. Males had no choice in the matter
We also do IVs and venipunctures on each other. I'm surprised that it's not like this everywhere actually.
jk
Can I request a female?
So describe to me how this works. We all walk into a room and the professor says "prepare for physical exam practice" (strip). Everyone takes off their clothes except boxers and we go do a physical exams on each other? Non-exposure of genitalia? How are you gonna feel my femoral without pulling my boxers off at least a little or putting me in a gown?
I suppose some are concerned that this might create awkwardness. Like in seinfeld when that girl walks in on george and laughs about how small it is. Thank god I'm going to medical school somewhere where it's warm!!!
On the other hand, some of my closest (platonic) relationships have been with women who had shown me their breasts (truth or dare situation in highschool) and who had in turn seen my pee pee. Lol it was only awkward for a while and they stopped talking about it after a week.
Well we are told beforehand to wear clothes that are easy to take off. We go into the practice room and get a patient gown. Girls usually go to the bathroom to change. Guys just change in the room. We are covered at all times with a sheet and gown with only parts of the body exposed at any instant. No one is standing around in their underwear unless they really want to.
For the femoral, we only pull down the underwear slightly and at an angle. No one has to pull it down all the way to expose their hee-haw or hoo-hoo, got it?
Yes cold rooms are always a problem...
You don't find Lindsay Lohan Attractive? Are you very sure you're not a homosexual? lol
What if I want to go boxer-less? lol would that be allowed too?
I've modeled for art students once and actually liked it!!!
Okay, thanks!
.
Edit: It is possible you misunderstood and thought I meant I would not see any graduate of my school. I am talking about people in my class and those above/below me that I know. My GP is a graduate of my school and she is great.
Creepster.
It isn't any easier to take standardized patients seriously, either. Most of the standardized patients in school were terrible actors and some were exceptionally creepy. One of the male standardized patients would roll his eyes back in his head and start breathing heavily (as if he were about to orgasm) whenever a girl listened to his heart or his lungs.
Other standardized patients were way too bossy and some were very mean. So, the grass may LOOK greener, but it really isn't.
