Reflection

The patient had a strong accent, and I found it difficult to concentrate on both hearing the words she
was saying and listening to her, and thus I had trouble structuring my history well while preoccupied.
To avoid such a problem in the future, because asking questions is not yet second nature to me, I will
need to practise taking more histories from patients of all cultures in Semester 2.

Because the patient was not from an English speaking background, there were several moments
where she asked me to repeat the question I had asked. I need to focus on speaking more slowly and
loudly, as well as using more common vocabulary if I notice that a patient is having difficulty
understanding me.