Journal: Observe, Process, Reflect
• Reflect on your course experience. Review material concerning health histories and physical examinations.
• Include the following in your journal entry:
o Think, reflect and record the feelings you have had as you have progressed through this course.
o Examine and record your strengths and weaknesses concerning collecting health histories and performing physical examinations.
o What were areas you felt like you grew the most during this course?
o Compare what you expected to learn versus what you learned in this course.
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Submit a 150-word Journal entry addressing the four areas noted above and in the grading rubric. You may include any other comments or thoughts unrelated to the listed areas.
I strongly feel that this course has presented interesting learning opportunities and has also contributed to improvement of my knowledge and clinical skills. Before the invention of modern technology, it was vital for healthcare providers to perfect their skills and techniques in physical examination since equipment such as x-ray machines, echocardiograms and scanners were not yet existent (Pasterkamp & Zielinski, 2019). It is for this reason that having the ability to obtain an accurate medical history and perform a thorough physical examination is essential to the provision of comprehensive healthcare services to both pediatric and adult patients. This course has greatly contributed to improvement of my health assessment skills. I can be able to gather clues based on spoken information provided by a patient. By conducting comprehensive health assessments, I am able to relate assessment outcomes to the pathophysiology of a disease and make an accurate diagnosis of an illness before instituting the appropriate management (Nelson, Alexander & Molnar, 2015).
One of the areas that I grew the most in this course is conducting physical examinations by using the hand to palpate, a stethoscope to listen/auscultate and eyes to see. The findings in physical examinations proved useful in diagnosing patients’ illnesses. During the course, I was able to develop a habit of updating patient’s historical information and routinely repeating essential parts of physical examination especially during follow-up visits (Fryer & Evans, 2015). I was able to demonstrate a lot of consideration for the feelings of the patient, the social and cultural backgrounds in history taking and physical examination as they are major social determinants of health Journal: Observe, Process, Reflect.
References
Fryer, N., & Evans, C. (2015). Examination of the newborn: professional issues in practice. Examination of the Newborn: An Evidence-Based Guide, 213.
Nelson, M. R., Alexander, M. A., & Molnar, G. E. (2015). History and examination. Pediatric rehabilitation, 1-11.
Pasterkamp, H., & Zielinski, D. (2019). The history and physical examination. In Kendig’s Disorders of the Respiratory Tract in Children (Ninth Edition) (pp. 2-25). Journal: Observe, Process, Reflect.