Washing Hands or Wearing Gloves
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I prefer hand washing
Traditionally it has been thought that washing hands is more appropriate and less insulting to the patient. Gloves are usually thought of in isolated and quarantined cases.
However, it has been emphasized by the official USMLE website that there's no difference between the two.
One advantage of wearing gloves is it's certainly quicker in a time sensitive examination.
However, my personal opinion is to go with hand washing rather than wearing gloves.
Traditionally it has been thought that washing hands is more appropriate and less insulting to the patient. Gloves are usually thought of in isolated and quarantined cases.
However, it has been emphasized by the official USMLE website that there's no difference between the two.
One advantage of wearing gloves is it's certainly quicker in a time sensitive examination.
However, my personal opinion is to go with hand washing rather than wearing gloves.
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535 Posts
I washed my hands and passed. I am against wearing gloves because patients may feel that the doctor is worried from them. Also the powder in the gloves will stick to your hands and if you shaked hands with the patient at the end you will see the patient feeling ugly from the powder.
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53 Posts
I don't think they use powdered gloves (at least in my center; took CS in Houston). Gloves save you time, although there's a minimal risk of an awkward moment when you can't seem to put them on very well. Advantage: you could face the patient and talk with them while putting them on (with eye contact, of course).I washed my hands and passed. I am against wearing gloves because patients may feel that the doctor is worried from them. Also the powder in the gloves will stick to your hands and if you shaked hands with the patient at the end you will see the patient feeling ugly from the powder.
Washing hands takes more time, but you can use this extra to think more carefully how to efficiently proceed with the PE.
Voted for gloves.
I agree!
I used gloves in my exam and it was quick and efficient. No weirdness. Fortunately I did not have any problems putting them on.
There are three options now, washing hands/wearing gloves/hand sanitizer. And all three are considered equal during the examination.I didn't know about the hand sanitizer option until the day of my exam. But it's easier and faster since you can face the patient and continue with the interview while you wait for the sanitizer to evaporate.
but in hand sanitizer we have to be careful, not to touch the patient when the hands are still wet.. and plus that smell... i get a headache with it.. and smelling it 12 times... no wayy
i was thinking to wash my hands , but in the last moment i decided to wear gloves.. it was easy..Comes down to personal choice, I guess.
And I know it sounds obvious but waiting till the sanitizer evaporates is important. I was so nervous about running out of time for the first case that I didn't wait long enough. Apologized to the SP, who was very nice about it.
And I know it sounds obvious but waiting till the sanitizer evaporates is important. I was so nervous about running out of time for the first case that I didn't wait long enough. Apologized to the SP, who was very nice about it.
You can do any of the three option but I vote for washing hands. I used sanitizer in first case but my already nervous cold hands became even more cold and patient hated them despite me rubbing them together multiple times and profusely apologizing. I washed my hands with warm water next case onwards and it helped warming my hands up. Also I didn't rub soap in my hands for 1 whole minute. It was just a quick few seconds wash while I asked my patient if he'd like to add more to what he already told me. Gloves hinder my percussion and because my hands are small, regular gloves are very loose and they didn't have size 6.5 surgical ones.
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