Medical Student Survival Skills Procedural Skills

Medical students encounter many challenges on their path to success, from managing their time, applying theory to practice, and passing exams. The Medical Student Survival Skills series helps medical students navigate core subjects of the curriculum, providing accessible, short reference guides for OSCE preparation and hospital placements. These guides are the perfect tool for achieving clinical success.

Medical Student Survival Skills: Procedural Skills is the ideal guide for medical students tasked with performing a core set of clinical procedures. A vital part of any medical training, these procedures range from basic body temperature and blood pressure measurements to more advanced arterial blood gas sampling and ophthalmoscopic techniques. This indispensable guide enables students to quickly lookup relevant information on the go, carry out clinical procedures with minimal supervision and apply procedural knowledge to their OSCE exams.

Philip Jevon is Honorary Clinical Lecturer at Birmingham Medical School and Academy Manager/Tutor, Walsall Teaching Academy, Manor Hospital, Walsall, UK.

Ruchi Joshi is Clinical Director for Emergency and Acute Medicine, Walsall Healthcare NHS Trust, Manor Hospital, Walsall, UK.

About the companion website vii

1 Measuring body temperature 1

2 Measuring pulse and blood pressure 7

3 Transcutaneous monitoring of oxygen saturations 13

4 Peak expiratory flow 17

5 Venepuncture 21

6 Managing blood samples correctly 25

7 Taking blood cultures 29

8 Measuring capillary blood glucose 33

9 ECG monitoring 37

10 Recording a 12 lead ECG 41

11 Basic respiratory function tests 45

12 Urine multi‐dipstick test 49

13 Advising patients on how to collect a mid‐stream urine specimen 53

14 Taking nose, throat, and skin swabs 57

15 Performing a pregnancy test 63

16 Administering oxygen 69

17 Airway management: Insertion of oropharyngeal and nasopharyngeal airways 75

18 Ventilation: Pocket mask and self‐inflating bag 81

19 Defibrillation (manual and automated) 87

20 Cardiopulmonary resuscitation 91

21 Establishing peripheral intravenous access 101

22 Use of infusion devices 107

23 Making up drugs for parenteral administration 111

24 Dosage and administration of insulin and use of sliding scales 115

25 Administering a subcutaneous injection 119

26 Intravenous injections 123

27 Administration of blood transfusion 127

28 Male and female urinary catheterisation 135

29 Instructing patients in the use of devices for inhaled medication 147

30 Skin suturing 151

31 Application of a sling 155

32 Safe disposal of clinical waste, needles, and other ‘sharps’ 159

33 Arterial blood gas sampling 165

34 Examination of the ear 169

35 Ophthalmoscopy 175

36 Relieving foreign body airway obstruction 181

Index 185

The New copy of this book will include any supplemental materials advertised. Please check the title of the book to determine if it should include any access cards, study guides, lab manuals, CDs, etc.

The Used, Rental and eBook copies of this book are not guaranteed to include any supplemental materials. Typically, only the book itself is included. This is true even if the title states it includes any access cards, study guides, lab manuals, CDs, etc.