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How to do a male genital exam

Other platforms explain it with text and video. In Making Synapses you practice it on the patient.

MD / DOPA
Practice it in VR with Blocky

A respectful, systematic genital exam finds testicular cancer, infection and hernia.

Step by step

  1. Consent and chaperone

    Explain each step, gloves on. [1]

  2. Inspect

    Skin, hair, penis, foreskin, opening, scrotum. [2]

  3. Testes

    Each between thumb and fingers: size, shape, lumps. [2]

  4. Epididymis and cord

    Behind the testis; the cord up to the groin. [2]

  5. Lumps

    Light through a swelling (transillumination) suggests fluid. [2]

  6. Hernia

    Check the groin with a cough. [2]

  7. Teach

    Monthly self-exam. [3]

Common errors

Practice it in Making Synapses

In Making Synapses you do this on the patient, not on paper: every step goes on the checklist with a score, and in Teach mode Blocky tells you what comes next.

Making Synapses cases that train this skill

10 Making Synapses cases train this skill: open the case library

Sources

  1. AAMC Core Entrustable Professional Activities (Core EPAs)
  2. Stanford Medicine 25 (bedside exam)
  3. NCCPA PANCE Content Blueprint
  4. Open RN, Nursing Skills 2e (Chippewa Valley Technical College) (CC BY 4.0)

Steps adapted from Open RN, Nursing Skills 2e (Chippewa Valley Technical College), licensed under CC BY 4.0. Facts and steps also follow NCCPA PANCE Content Blueprint; Stanford Medicine 25 (bedside exam). Making Synapses is not affiliated with these organizations. Updated: 2026-10-11.