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OG35.{1-2,8,11} | History, Examination and Provisional Diagnosis — SDL Guide (Part 3)

Self-Assessment: Key Checkpoints

Before your supervised bedside assessment in the antenatal or gynaecology clinic, take ten minutes to work through these self-test checkpoints without looking at your notes. Self-assessment is not merely a revision exercise — at the SH competency level it serves a gatekeeping function: if you cannot articulate the principle behind a clinical technique, you cannot perform it safely under pressure. These checkpoints are organised by competency code so that you can identify precisely which aspect of OG35 still needs reinforcement. If you find a gap, return to the relevant section of this module and re-read it before your posting. An honest self-assessment now prevents a skills failure during a supervised bedside encounter later — and, more importantly, prevents patient harm. Each question maps directly to a real clinical scenario you will encounter within the first week of your OG posting.

OG35.1 — History and examination:
- Can you begin the encounter with a proper introduction, consent, and chaperone arrangement?
- Can you take a complete obstetric history including menstrual history with LMP, GPAL formula, and marital/contraceptive history without prompting?
- Can you perform all four Leopold's manoeuvres in the correct sequence, describe your hand placement, and state what information each manoeuvre provides?
- Can you measure fundal height accurately, auscultate the fetal heart, and estimate liquor volume clinically?
- Do you know that per-vaginal and per-rectal examinations are NOT part of OG35.1, and can you explain this to your supervisor?

OG35.2 — Provisional diagnosis:
- Can you synthesise your history and examination findings into a single structured provisional diagnosis statement, including obstetric formula, gestational age, presentation, and primary clinical problem?

OG35.8 — Gestational age, EDD, obstetric formula:
- Can you apply Naegele's rule correctly to any given LMP date, including adjustment for cycle length?
- Can you construct the GPAL formula correctly, remembering that the current pregnancy contributes to G but not yet to P?
- Can you correlate fundal height with expected gestational age and identify discordance?

OG35.11 — Case record:
- Can you write all 16 sections of a complete OG case record from memory?
- Is your documentation legible, dated, timed, and signed?

If you cannot answer 'yes' to all the above, revisit the relevant section before your bedside posting. The self-assessment micro-quiz at the end of this module will test the factual underpinnings.