Speculum examination is without a doubt one of the most embarrassing and stressful procedures for patients. The same can be said to the inexperienced health provider (Ahem~) who performs the procedure; moreover, when it's not done right, it can only make a patient even more stressful. I have the "pleasure" the other day to supervise a medical student to do one - my mind was thinking "run!" when I got the assignment - I have barely done enough to do it on my own, let alone teaching a student. As nervous as I am (as well as the student), I walked into the room and handed the speculum to the student. Then I handed over a glass of water as said, "here, use water as lubricant." The nurse who's standing next to us immediately stopped us and told us that there we use jelly instead of water. That's when I realized that it was the patient's darn drinking water container that I was holding!
I laughed it off and continued on. The rest of the procedure went well actually, and I was surprised that I was actually able to show the student a few techniques from the little that I know. One of the most important things I've learnt that I was trying to tell the student is the need to communicate with the patient well during the ordeal - tell the patient exactly what you are doing before each step helps the patient to relax, and at the same time the provider will feel more comfortable.
See one, do one, teach one. So the adage goes.
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