Standardized patients are like actors who pretend to have medical complaints and then put themselves in the hands of inexperienced medical students. We practice basic skills on them. Today, I had to be taped while interviewing a standardized patient. Not for a grade, just for feedback, and then I have to do a graded one at the end of the year.
It's a very unnatural thing. I realize it's probably the best way to assess interviewing skills, but knowing you're on camera makes it feel so different. I think everyone was a little more nervous than they would have been because of that. I certainly was. Once I started the interview, I forgot about the camera, but first walking into the room and making introductions and trying to get things started in a way that feels natural is next to impossible when you feel like an actor who forgot to read the script.
I was also a little freaked out when I finished my interview before the end of the allotted time and left the room, only to find that I was the only person in my group who had finished already. After a minute or two, someone else came out of her interview room, and then more people started finishing and coming out, so it's not like I finished in 3 minutes and everyone else took 15, but I still had one minute of panic alone in the hallway thinking I must have skipped a part of the interview without realizing it. Actually, I didn't miss anything, though I know I could have gone into more detail about some things. But someone had to finish first, and it happened to be me.
Next week is our second biochem exam, and then I leave to spend winter break with my parents. This blog will probably lie fallow for the rest of December, as I intend to think no medically related thoughts during break.
It's a very unnatural thing. I realize it's probably the best way to assess interviewing skills, but knowing you're on camera makes it feel so different. I think everyone was a little more nervous than they would have been because of that. I certainly was. Once I started the interview, I forgot about the camera, but first walking into the room and making introductions and trying to get things started in a way that feels natural is next to impossible when you feel like an actor who forgot to read the script.
I was also a little freaked out when I finished my interview before the end of the allotted time and left the room, only to find that I was the only person in my group who had finished already. After a minute or two, someone else came out of her interview room, and then more people started finishing and coming out, so it's not like I finished in 3 minutes and everyone else took 15, but I still had one minute of panic alone in the hallway thinking I must have skipped a part of the interview without realizing it. Actually, I didn't miss anything, though I know I could have gone into more detail about some things. But someone had to finish first, and it happened to be me.
Next week is our second biochem exam, and then I leave to spend winter break with my parents. This blog will probably lie fallow for the rest of December, as I intend to think no medically related thoughts during break.
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