Dictation

One of my co-residents named Lucy had the funniest way of dictating. It totally cracked me up. She dictated the way you present a patient to an attending.

The way most residents dictate: "Mr.Smith-was-a-fifty-year-old-man-with-a-history-of-hypertension-and-osteoarthritis-who-presented-with-three-days-of-increasing-urinary-urgency-and-frequency-with-fever-to-101."

The way Lucy dictated: "Mr. Smith was a fifty year old man, who had a history of hypertension and osteoarthrits. So he came in with three days of increasing urinary urgency and frequency? Oh, and he had a fever of 101 degrees."

It was even funnier when she got to the plan, because her voice became more and more questioning. I almost expected her to ask the dictaphone if the plan sounded okay.

I teased her after, about how she was presenting her patient to the dictaphone, and asked if the dictaphone agreed with her assessment and plan.