Gynecologist Interview Question:

Tell us you are covering the obstetrics and gynaecology wards one evening and a 35 year old female patient who had a caesarian section 2 days ago is now presenting with severe shortness of breath and chest pain. What is your approach?

Submitted by: Muhammad

You can insert here any typical clinical scenario which might happen on the ward where the resident medical officer is called to review. Chest pain and other types of escalating pain are favourite scenarios. Usually the scenario is in two parts. The initial question which is in the form of the information you might be given when a member of nursing staff calls you.

The next bit is the examination findings. Generally the examination findings are either of a patient who is deteriorating or already in need of an emergency response.

So the key aspects of responding to these questions are not to give a textbook answer to the clinical problem. But to frame it in terms of your role as a very junior member of staff. You need to spell it out to the panel. You need to let them know that:

☛ You would prioritise the call – Go Straight Away.
☛ You would ask for vital signs over the phone.
☛ You would ask the nurse to call an emergency response. If the vitals warranted it.
☛ You would ask the nurse to stay with you to help.
☛ You would have in the back of your mind a question about “What could be the worst case scenario here?” for example a pulmonary embolus.
☛ You would take a quick history and examine the patient.
☛ You would have a low threshold for calling a senior colleague and/or an emergency response.
Submitted by: Muhammad