USMLE Step 2 CS Preparation: How To Recover From A Bad HPI

Today we’re going to cover one of the most difficult aspects our students face when undergoing their USMLE Step 2 CS preparation, which is how to properly recover when you’ve messed up your HPI.

Luckily, it is possible to recover and bounce back when you’ve made a few minor mistakes, and in the video below we’re going to give you a strategy for doing just that.

If you’d rather read the transcript, you can do so by scrolling below.

Also, don’t forget to TWEET THIS VIDEO: https://ctt.ec/YC8dd

Welcome everybody to another episode of the USMLE Success Academy’s youtube show… today I’m going to talk to you about an important Step 2 CS preparation problem that my team and I see quite often when we’re training our students, and that is what to do if you forget to ask something during the history portion of the encounter and you’ve moved on to the physical exam portion of the encounter.

By the end of this video, you’ll have a step by step plan in place so that if you’re in your CS exam and you forget to ask something important, you’ll have a very simply strategy to ensure you get answers to your questions, even if that portion of the exam is done.

Now lets dive in and talk about how to get answers when the interview portion of the CS encounter has completed…

So, this is something that we see over and over again and it really seems to stump students….

Typically what happens is they’ve moved onto the physical exam portion of the encounter and they realize that they forgot to ask one or more questions, and the vast majority of the time, they make it obvious that they forgot something and they end up acting in a way that is definitely going to cause problems…

For example…

Many students will freeze on the spot and say ‘Mr. Jones, I forgot to ask you something when I was doing my interview, is it ok if I ask you now?’, or something along those lines…

Now, when you just heard that, what did you think?

For me, when I hear things like that, I hear someone admitting that they messed up, even though it really isn’t that big of a deal.

So what students are doing is putting a magnifying glass on something that really isn’t a big deal at all….

You can make these little mistakes on the CS exam as long as you know how to correct them throughout the encounter…

So let me give you a really straightforward example that we give our students in our Step 2 CS prep course that will ensure that you can easily overcome this issue should it arise.

Example:

Lets say you forgot to ask Mr. Jones about whether or not his headache is radiating and how he would rate it on a pain scale of 1 to 10.

Now, most students, as i said, would stop, bring attention to their mistake, and then ask it awkwardly.

What you should do instead is simply integrate those couple questions into the Physical exam at a time when you can easily slip it in…

For example, lets say you’re doing the HEENT component of the exam and as you’re feeling around the head, you say “Mr. Jones, is the pain you’re experiencing radiating anywhere?”, he’ll say yes or no.

Then you can simply ask him on a scale of 1 to 10, 10 being the worst pain you’ve ever experienced, how would you rate this headache?

Then he’ll tell you and you just keep moving through the exam as though nothing happened. And that’s all you need to do.

What Not To Do:

Now, what if you had the same scenario I just mentioned but instead of asking those questions as you continued to palpate the head, you paused, realized you forgot some questions, took a step back, grabbed your clipboard, and asked him the questions and took notes, all while in the middle of the physical exam.

If you ask me, that sticks out like a sore thumb, and thats exactly what we want to avoid; pointing out when we’re doing things a bit off the cusp.

So just to reiterate… If you forgot to ask something or even if you forgot to do something for the PE and you’ve moved onto the next part, don’t make it obvious that you forgot something, just work it into the conversation as though it is the way you always do it.

As long as you act natural and don’t bring it to the SP’s attention that you’re doing something slightly out of order, then you’ll get the information and points you need.

And thats it… use these tricks on your CS exam, and even if you falter here or there, you’ll get through it smoothly and nobody will know the difference.