Dear GPSNers
We are, no doubt, avid watchers of numerous medical dramas and comedies (now to be referred to as Med Coms in keeping with Rom Coms), so it is about time we shared our OWN Med Com scenarios.
No longer are your tales of extreme embarrassment and humiliation to remain within your own universities. We are a caring sharing network so then, let us be a little more sharing! This year we will be running a Med-Com competition. Tell us your amusing stories of woe and you could be the recipient of Leanne Rowe and Michael Kidd’s new book “First do no harm” which reframes the traditional doctors’ rule, demonstrating that it should apply not only to patients, but also to doctors’ themselves.
Of course the more entries we get, the more amusement we share – and an embarrassing story shared is an embarrassing moment halved…. No names. No pack drills of course – unless you want to take credit for the story….
Send all entries through to gpsn.enquiries@gpra.org.au with your uni, address and name (which will not be published).
Allow me to start the ball rolling …..
Imagine a third year OSCE. Here stands a petite (read short) blonde before her first station. She peers into the room only to see the head honcho of Obs & Gynae sitting there (no doubt) about to laugh at her lame attempts to estimate gestational dates. Before she know it, the petite blonde exclaims “Oh God, it’s YOU!” This is followed rapidly by “I love you really”… great start to the OSCEs.
Sometime later the bell rings and she flits over to the next station but – someone is ALREADY reading the spiel out the front, so she looks at the next station but someone is reading that one too! She looks at the wall between the two stations for the “half station” but, unable locate it, flaps her arms like a chicken whilst running in a circle. This of course, seemed the calm collected and mature response that such a situation would elicit. In a different setting this very behaviour could get you committed, but in an OSCE with only 90 seconds to read a spiel before ‘completing the task’ in 5 minutes, it is the norm.
To top off the OSCE day, was a ‘motivational interview’ for weight loss. The conversation was going well until suddenly, the petite blonde noticed the patient’s hair. She took the opportunity to drop a compliment, suddenly saying, “you have lovely hair!” A random time to offer the compliment and perhaps an impromptu decision to motivate the patient towards a career change. Don’t worry about the weight loss, have you considered hairdressing? The most amusing part, however, was watching the standardised patient attempt to withhold their laughter (that is, according to the petite blonde).
So as you can see, the above is three Med Coms that really need to be shared. Share your med funnies – give us all a laugh when we are stressed and you could win a copy of Professor Kidd’s new book if you contribution is selected for publishing.
Cheers,
Kerry Summerscales
GPSN Chair
