I have made amazing progress in terms of my oral presentations since the beginning of third year. I started out having literally no idea how to properly present a patient. A stellar resident taught me the basics during my Hospitalized Adult Care clerkship, and along the way other residents and attendings interested in teaching have helped to fine-tune my presentation.
Today, I was presenting to my attending an obstetric patient who was in for a regular check-up. The attending remained quiet as I went through all the pertinent subjective information about my patient's pregnancy, described the fetal heart rate and height, and gave her my assessment and plan for this patient.
I was about to talk about the patient's breastfeeding and post-partum birth control plans when my attending said, "Stop!" It's not uncommon for attendings to interrupt oral presentations of medical students. So I stopped, wondering what she was going to say. "Your presentation was perfect. You covered everything I wanted to hear, and you said it succinctly. I know your assessment and plan. You don't need to say anything else. Stop talking!"
The lesson: Part of a good oral presentation is knowing when I've said enough. I should be confident that I have covered all the pertinent details and act on that confidence by ending my presentation. For a third-year medical student who is just now starting to feel comfortable giving oral presentations, this is a valuable lesson to learn.
A valuable lesson for all of us to learn....
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