Thoughts on clinic

This is my 4th time working in clinic today, while it was my 2nd time being the "doctor". So, let me explain myself a little bit. As a second year, we have finally learned enough clinical skills to start to see some patients. We get paired up with another classmate and alternate being doctor and scribe. The scribe is responsible for making sure everything is documented correctly into the electronic medical record (EHR) while the doctor is graded based on technical skills and efficiency being the doctor. Professionalism & communication is important in either roles.

Being the scribe is so much more chill. During first we year, we got to shadow the 3rd years in clinic and eventually got to check off a couple skills later during first year once we learned enough skills. I also shadowed a lot of doctors coming in to optometry school, so it's not a big worry for me. Also, typing information into the EHR is a pretty easy learning curve.

However, being a doctor is more intimidating! I need to work on my efficiency. I had my last "doctor" shift for the rest of the quarter since we lost a week during my clinic time since we had too many patient no-shows. :( I need to figure out how to ask the correct case history questions to get the appropriate info I need from the patient. I also need to figure out how to not get the patient to ramble too much. I mean, it's fun getting to hear a patient's life story, but sometimes it takes time away from me doing the tests.... I also definitely need to brush up on my skills some more.