Pimping, for those of you not in the medical field, is the action of asking questions to students and residents in an attempt to teach them something. For the surgical student/resident, this often takes place in the OR as the surgeon points to various parts of the body and asks what they are, what arteries feed them, what nerve runs under it, what would happen if it was cut, etc. For the Internist (Internal Medicine), this is often done in the hall way outside a patient's room or at the patient's bedside as the attending asks questions relating to the patient's disease or perhaps about things that the patient does not have... but in theory could.
To review. This is a pimp. Pimping in Medicine is nothing like Pimping on the street. Clear?Now that the intro is out of the way, here is the truth about pimping in medicine: It is probably one of the worst ways of teaching. Why? Because most of the time it ends up being a game of "Read the mind of the attending physician." I have made it through some pretty rough pimping sessions so far. During my SICU rotation at Washington Hospital Center in DC, I was the only medical student. Consequently, every morning on rounds was 3-4 hours of 'lets all group pimp Fred.' In the end, it was not painful, just tough because there was A TON of stuff I did not know. It was very humbling.
Time for a random picture. This group of smiling physicians are probably ferocious pimping machines. Don't let the smile fool you.
Now, this week I experienced some of the worst pimping yet in my short career. I am on a Neurology rotation at the DC VA. One attending in particular, from Germany, asked me a few questions on rounds that left me staring at him completely unsure of what to say. Honestly, I had no idea what he was asking. They were as follows, (and forgive me phonetic spelling, it is just to set the mood and put you in the situation)
1. "So stroke. What do you sink? ze face, ze arm, and ze leg?"
Answer in my head: "Stroke sucks. I hope it does not happen to me any time soon. And yes, you have manifestations in each of those areas."
Answer out loud: "I am sorry sir, what do you mean?"
Answer wanted: "If ze arm and leg are veek, then you sink of MCA (middle cerebral artery). If just ze leg, then ze anterior cerebral artery. But if all three, zen sink of a deep in ze brain."
Sure that makes sense. Maybe we just needed a more clear question besides what do you think about stroke...
2. "So, ze soldiers with amputations, what do they get?"
Answer in my head: "Sir, I have no idea what you are thinking of right now but I sure hope it is cool. Maybe if you try after lunch, I will be able to read your mind."
Answer out loud: "I am not sure sir."
Answer wanted: "Rotator Cuff Injury. Zey loose their legs and then spend time on ze bicycle. With time zey hurt their shoulder and it is very devastating to them.
That is good to know. However, it leaves me wondering if there is a better way to teach in the clinic. If any of my friends out there have other fun stories to share from the clinic, please feel free to share. Let us all vow to pimp more effectively in the future.
Comments