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Last year in the Foundations of Clinical Medicine I class, our class was roughly taught a few physical examination techniques, one of which was how to palpitate for the spleen. To do so, you ask the patient to take a deep breath to push the diaphragm down and consequently push the spleen down past the last rib. Once the patient has taken a deep breath, you push your hand up from the abdomen under the last rib and feel the spleen with your fingers.
I volunteered as the guinea pig for my small group. I thought I was going to be the model for just the professor to demonstrate to the group. I was wrong. I was the model for any other student who wanted to try. It was painful enough to have an experienced professor forcefully push his fingers up against my spleen. It was even more painful to have a handful of students trying over and over and over again. When one student couldn't feel the spleen, the professor encouraged "to push up harder." Apparently, harder meant hard enough to elicit a groan and retraction into the fetal position for me.
Today is the start of FCM II. Cringe.
Question
Which part of a doctor's visit hurts the most?
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