Candidate card · Medicine

You are the doctor

A patient asking about an incidental finding

Setting: A scan-results review

A scan report mentions an unrelated finding; the fictional team plan is comparison with earlier images before deciding whether follow-up is needed.

Task

  • Explore the concern behind this opening: The report mentions a second thing. Why did nobody tell me about that first?
  • Clarify the patient perspective using an appropriate follow-up, such as: What have you understood the additional finding to mean?
  • Explain the supplied information and its limits in manageable sections.
  • Explore practical barriers and agree a workable next step from the supplied options.
  • Check the patient understanding and identify any unresolved question.
A patient asking about an incidental finding supplied information
  • A scan report mentions an unrelated finding; the fictional team plan is comparison with earlier images before deciding whether follow-up is needed.
  • The report includes a finding separate from the question the scan was requested to answer. The team's supplied next step is to compare it with earlier images before deciding what follow-up is needed.
  • The report alone does not tell us whether this needs treatment, and I cannot turn the online description into your diagnosis.
  • The imaging team can request the earlier study after confirming where it was done. We can record those details instead of expecting you to interpret or obtain the images yourself.
  • The results team will contact you after comparison; use its number on the card if you need to check that the earlier hospital details were received.

Fictional scenario information supplied for exam communication practice only; not medical guidance for real patients.