It was going to be another long day at the clinic. My preceptor had asked me to come an hour early and informed me that I'd probably end up staying until 10pm that night, since he had double-booked almost every time slot. Fabulous. Just fabulous. Mind you, this was the day before my shelf exam.
I figured I probably ought to get some coffee. And while I was at Starbucks, I saw a man that looked vaguely familiar.
I stared at him. Was he an old patient? Maybe one of my hospital patients? The thing is, I have a pretty good memory of everyone I took care of...and his diagnosis/condition wasn't jumping to mind. Where had I seen him before? I knew it was in a medical setting, but I just couldn't figure it out.
By that point, he had seen me staring.
He gestured at my white coat. Northwestern?
Oh, um yes, sir.
I'm a standardized patient.
Oh! Thanks! I knew you looked familiar!
He had gotten his coffee by this time, so nodding a goodbye to me, he walked out.
And that's when I realized that I knew exactly which standardized patient he was. I knew him from my first-year physical exam class. You see, he had taught us the male GU exam.
Seriously, so many of my classmates never see patients or pseudo-patients outside of the hospital. Why does it always happen to me??
3 years ago
