MedEx Day 13/14 - July 15, 2021

Sadly, I was unable to make day 14 of MedEx due to an arranged/ pre-coordinated absence.

Today was my first ever encounter with Standardized patients. This experience certainly challenged me in some ways, but I thoroughly enjoyed the challenge and loved the experience. A standardized patient is essentially a paid actor who plays the role of a patient. This allows aspiring healthcare providers an opportunity to practice their bedside manner and clinical skills on real people before it is their practice/ patients. Through MedEx, I had two of these standardized encounters today, much earlier than most. My role was to introduce myself to the patient/ give my AIDET, comfort the patients regarding their situation, and read to the patients in order to practice bibliotherapy.

The first patient that I encountered was an eldery gentleman who was having difficulty reading and who had recently had a bad encounter with his nurse/ thought she was holding him in the rehab facility against his will. During the encounter, I had the chance to engage with the patient and strike up conversation about sports, including Clemson football, bowling, and his kids. It was encouraging to see how a conversation lasting about 10 or 15 minutes greatly enhanced his mood and gave the patient a better outlook on his current situation. Everyone received feedback on their encounters/ pretty much everyone made the exact same mistake... forgetting to wash/ sanitize their hands while entering and exiting the room. I think that this will become a habit of mine over the years as I hopefully practice medicine in the future. Since almost everyone made the same mistake, we watched a quick module on how to properly don and doff PPE and how to sanitize our hands properly.

The second patient that I encountered was an elderly woman who had dementia and who was waiting on her son to come to take her to lunch. I had the same assignment. Due to this patient's condition, this encounter was certainly tougher; however, I did better, as I did not forget to wash my hands, and I felt that I had improved with practice from my earlier encounter. I read to the patient, discussed birds with her, and tried to treat her as a human being, despite her clearly not having a completely intact mental state. I thoroughly enjoyed this challenge/ hope to have more standardized patient encounters in the future.

To end the day, Tier III had the chance to write notes of affirmation to other members in the Tier. What a great week!