Him: Ella, what is the PMI?
Me: The point of maximum impulse?
Him: No
Me: Hmm. The beat of the heart at the apex?
Him: (sigh of frustration) No. Do you even know where it is?
Me: (worried and thinking I'm crazy) I believe that would be the left anterior mid-clavicular line at the fifth intercostal space.
Him: Absolutely not! Ella, you do realize that if you don't know something as elementary as the PMI, BASIC HUMAN ANATOMY (!), that I will have to fail you on this rotation. Its the FOURTH intercostal space!!!!
Me: (gulp holy shit what am I missing????)
Him: Go look it up.
Me: Yes sir.
Him: ( a few minutes later....) Well......? What does it say?
Me: Um, it says the point of maximum impulse is palpated at the left anterior mid-clavicular line at the fifth intercostal space
Him: LET ME SEE THAT!!!
Then, because he was pissed, he pimped me on a bunch of ridiculous shit that nobody in the group knew.
(now to be fair, though the literature does say the 5th intercostal space... I have also seen it as "between the 4th and the 5th")... but for Christ's sake he threatened to fail me over that! And mind you I have no bad history with the guy... it was only my 2nd day working. First day he said "good job"
