Eyes & ENT · Examination

Blurred central vision in an older adult - GP

MediumYear 5 · Curtin style · 10 min + 2 min reading · 3 tasks

2 min reading · 10 min station · reminders at 2 min

Station - Instructions for candidate

You are a junior doctor working in a general practice in Perth.

Mei Lim, a 76-year-old retired landscaper, has come to see you because the vision in her right eye has become blurry over the past four months and she is finding it hard to read. She has no eye pain. A Snellen chart is on the wall at 6 metres and an Amsler grid, pinhole occluder, near-vision card and pen torch are on the table.

Your tasks are to:

  1. Perform a focused examination.
  2. Summarise your findings to the examiner with your most likely diagnosis and differential diagnoses.
  3. Outline your initial management plan to the examiner.
  • You do NOT need to take a history; the relevant history is in the triage note and the patient will answer brief clarifying questions.
  • You are not required to perform fundoscopy; the examiner will provide the findings on request.
  • You do not need to write a referral letter in this station.

This is a 10-minute station, with 2 minutes of reading time.

Ask the examiner

Say what you would examine or request, the way you would in the station. Nothing is named until you ask for it.

Whatever the examiner recognises is revealed below. Or pick a numbered item to reveal it blind.

Investigations

Ask for a category the way you would in the station: “Can I have the obs and a set of bloods?”

Examination

Say what you would examine and how; the examiner reports what you would find.