Well that must have been the most terrifying thing I have ever done as a student, my first OSCE. For those of you that aren't medics, it's the practical exam that tests us on how we interact with patients, and get tested on examining mock patients. I would even go as far to say that the idea of it was even more intimidating than the interview that got me here in the first place.
I had visions before of me making inappropriate remarks to the examiner, whilst I nervously laughed my way to failing. Instead, the whole thing was rather unremarkable, once I was able to slip into pretend doctor mode, the whole experience was less threatening than an average day in uni, it was even nearly enjoyable.
After an unsuccessful attempt at taking blood pressure (I saw the examiner giving me a 0 for the reading I got...) the rest of the stations involved basic life support, gaining consent and pointing out some basic surface anatomy. I would even go as far to say that it was nearly enjoyable to actually put into practice the skills I'd been learning for the previous few months.
I guess at the end of the day, this was the reason that we all joined med school, to do the jobs that doctors do. None of us really joined for the endless sleep-inducing lectures on the endocrine system or to learn so many anatomical names that we'd become fluent in latin. We joined to become doctors, and this gave us our first real taste.
For your information, I passed the OSCE in the top quarter of students, not that I'm bragging...
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