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Day 1- Orientation

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            Students will come to Delphi USMLE Prep Center for a detailed orientation. During this orientation, students will learn the Delphi way of history taking and receive a book to study during their time with us. The book explains a full history taking with example cases and case specific questions. Delphi explains each portion of the USMLE exam in great detail to ensure our students are getting the score they deserve. The USMLE sections include ICE, CIS, and SEP. Our standardized patients will help each student master all three of these sections.  After the understanding of history taking, students will observe the different types of physical exam. Delphi will teach each student thoroughly to better their understanding and ensure their success.

 

 

Day 2- Diagnostic Assessment

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            Students will complete 5 cases, over a 5-hour period of time, with a standardized patient to determine their strengths and weaknesses. Each case will include completing the full history taking, counseling when necessary, challenging questions, physical exam, closure, patient notes, and a full detailed discussion. During each encounter the standardized patient will look for;

• History taking organization

• Performing respectful and empathetic bedside manner

• Spoken English Proficiency

• Physical Examination Skills

• Strong counseling

• Strong closure with detailed explanations of diagnosis and tests
   

Each student will be graded on the first day using a score sheet with immense detail Delphi has created. Each student will receive the score from each case and use these to study for future cases. Our physicians will meet with each student individually to work through patient notes and evaluate findings and reasoning of each differential.

 

 

Day 3- Concept Understanding

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            A workshop is held to solidify the understanding of organization, counseling, closure, and challenging questions. Students will work with the physicians and specialized patients to master each of these components. The students will spend one hour on each topic.
 

• Organization and time management:

  • History taking can take more time than a student expects, especially if it is a case they are unfamiliar with, and Delphi will give tips and tricks on how to manage their time while using organizational skills. Our physicians and specialized patients will show the students how to set up their notes sheet for when the patient is speaking, and how they will ask their questions in a way that won’t confuse the SP or take more time than necessary. Students will practice taking history with five different cases.

• Counseling:

  • Our Delphi book gives students a script for counseling scenarios. We will give each student scenarios to read and counsel. The more the students are repeating these scripts, the better they will remember them.

• Closure:

  • Students will use the Delphi script to conclude their case. Specialized patients are looking for correct differential diagnosis, labs/work up, and detailed explanations of what the diagnosis means. Each student will be given a scenario that will include a differential diagnosis, and the students will be performing a closure based on the information given in the scenario. The physicians and SP’s will critique the closure until it matches Delphi criteria.

• Challenging Question:

  • Students will receive 20 challenging questions to review on their own before coming to day 3. The standardized patient and physician will choose 10 of these questions for the students to answer to the best of their ability and explain why they answered the question this way. The Delphi team will assess and help each student with the answers that may need adjusting and give the students 5 more questions on the spot that they have never seen before. All questions will be given with a scenario, so the students have background information to follow.

 

 

Day 4- Encounter- Difficulty Level 1
 

            Students will complete 5 challenging cases with a standardized patient over a five-hour time period. All sessions will be individual with the SP to allow all attention of to focus on the student performing. Each case will include a challenging question and counseling within the full history, and the case specific physical exams. All history taking and physical exams will conclude within the fifteen-minute time period. Each session will follow with the ten minutes for patient notes. The SP will discuss each case section by section with each student to share strengths and weaknesses as well as offer constructive feedback on how to adjust the areas of need. Finally, the students will meet with the physicians of Delphi to discuss the patient notes they have written and make any necessary changes. Improvement will be shown from day 2.

 

 

 Day 5- Encounter- Difficulty Level 3
 

            Similar to day 4, students will complete 5 different challenging cases with standardized patients over a five-hour time period. All sessions will continue to be individual, so each student is practicing to the best of their ability. All students will be focusing on time management during each case, counseling for necessary topics and building a strong closure. The timer Delphi uses will announce the beginning of the case, when there is five minutes remaining, and when the case is complete. There will be a full discussion after all five cases are finished and a score sheet for the student to compare their first day and final day studying with Delphi. The physician will sit with 6+-=/each student individually to discuss all six patient notes, as well as, give the last tips and tricks students will need to feel confident and prepared for their USMLE Step 2 CS exam.  There is no mini mock exam.