Hey new M3s- when I started my third year I got anxious before I went to see every single patient. I love patients and was embarrassed by the fact that I got anxious and hid (well) that I was panicking over saying the wrong thing, forgetting to ask critical questions, etc.

So if this is you- you’re not alone. And it’s okay!! I had extensive sim experience and we’d been clinically incorporated since M1. But still- I wanted to get it right so badly, perform to expectations and not be a detriment to anyone’s care.

Plus, with changing rotations, just as you start to get your feet under you, you end up feeling dumb again.

Now, as I start fourth year, I don’t have anxiety about seeing a new patient anymore. You truly will gain enough confidence that it’s no longer as stressful.

And frankly- those things did happen. I said the wrong things- so I apologized. I didn’t know answers- and I was honest. And I did miss questions or physical exam portions.

(If you know you forgot to do something say so in your presentation and follow it up with-

something along the lines of “but I will find out.” etc)

Just try not to be too hard on yourself for being nervous or for not getting it perfect. If we were at the level of a practicing clinician we’d be graduated from med school + residency.