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Patient interview

How to interview a patient with pelvic pain

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

MD / DOPANursing (NCLEX)
Practice it in VR with Blocky

Pelvic pain can come from the reproductive organs, the bladder or the bowel. In anyone who could be pregnant, rule out an ectopic pregnancy first.

Step by step

  1. Check stability and pregnancy

    Dizziness, fainting or heavy bleeding with pain: call for help. Ask about the last period and do a pregnancy test. [1]

  2. Introduce yourself and offer privacy

    Offer a chaperone for any exam. [2]

  3. Onset and character

    Sudden severe pain (torsion, rupture) or gradual; constant or cramping; one side or both. [3]

  4. Relation to the cycle

    Pain with periods, mid-cycle, or with sex. [3]

  5. Discharge and fever

    Suggest pelvic infection. [1]

  6. Bladder and bowel

    Burning, frequency, blood in urine, diarrhea, constipation. [1]

  7. Summarize and plan

    Explain the exam and imaging. [2]

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

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

Sources

  1. NCCPA PANCE Content Blueprint
  2. AAMC Core Entrustable Professional Activities (Core EPAs)
  3. NBOME COMLEX-USA clinical presentations

Facts and steps follow NBOME COMLEX-USA clinical presentations; NCCPA PANCE Content Blueprint; AAMC Core Entrustable Professional Activities (Core EPAs). Making Synapses is not affiliated with these organizations. Updated: 2026-10-11.