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Teaching Tips
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Teaching Tips: Thyroid
General Points
- As with any physical sign, it is helpful to have the learner commit to an assessment before utilizing technology, such as radiography, ECG, or invasive monitoring.
- Talk aloud to describe the maneuver as it is being performed.
- To keep all participants interested, pose questions that learners can be thinking about until it is their turn to examine patients.
- Ask the patient's permission before reviewing the sign as a group. Summarize to the patient when the exam is completed.
- There are different way to approach the exam depending upon the level of the learner:
- A finding may be simply demonstrated, or
- A brief patient history may be given and the learner asked to demonstrate appropriate exam maneuvers, or
- Demonstrate various maneuvers to detect an abnormality (e.g., ascites), and ask learners about the value (sensitivity and specificity) of each exam maneuver.
- Historical points are fun and enhance interest in the exam.
Thyroid
Describing anatomy or "what you're looking for" while palpating for the thyroid
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