I want to tell you about something I’ve been asking my IMGs to do for years now. It sounds almost too simple. Some of them look at me like I’ve lost the plot when I first suggest it. But trust me on this one – it works.

I ask them to record themselves taking a clinical history on their phone. Then listen back.

That’s it. No fancy app, no expensive software, no extra equipment. Just you, your phone, and a willingness to hear yourself as you actually sound – not as you imagine you sound.

The Method: Four Simple Steps

🎤 Press Record 🗣️ Start Talking 🎧 Listen Back 🔄 Repeat

“Hearing yourself say ‘So what brings you in today?’ at 7am over your cornflakes is humbling. It’s also, it turns out, precisely the point.”

Here’s what happens when my IMGs do this properly. They press record, they start talking through a history – presenting complaint, history of presenting illness, the full systems review – and then they listen back. And every single time, without exception, they hear something they missed. The awkward pause before the medication question. They catch the entire respiratory review they skipped. The moment they said “myocardial infarction” when they clearly meant to ask about it, not announce it.

The recording doesn’t lie. It doesn’t let you mentally fill in the question you forgot to ask. It just plays back exactly what happened. And that honesty is gold.

🧠 Why this is so effective: the science bit

Cognitive scientists call it “retrieval practice.” Pulling information actively out of your memory – rather than passively re-reading notes – builds dramatically stronger recall. The discomfort you feel hearing your own gaps? That’s your brain forming new connections. Your cringe is literally neurons strengthening.

I’ve been doing this work for a long time now, and I can tell you with complete confidence: the gap between knowing a clinical history and performing one under exam conditions is enormous. And the voice memo is one of the best bridges I know.

“The AMC Clinical Exam doesn’t test whether you’ve read about taking a history. It tests whether you can perform it – fluently, empathetically, completely – under real pressure.”

Think about any skilled performer. A musician, a surgeon, a great communicator. They didn’t get good by reading about their craft. Instead, they rehearsed. They recorded themselves and listened back. After refining their technique, they did it again.

My IMGs are no different. You’re preparing for a high-stakes performance – one where a real patient will one day be sitting across from you, trusting you to ask the right questions. That kind of fluency doesn’t come from a textbook. It comes from repetition.

📋 What the AMC is really looking for

Not just a correct list of questions – but a doctor who can move through a history naturally, respond to cues, and make the patient feel heard. The voice memo trains exactly that: the rhythm, the flow, the human connection. You can’t rehearse that in your head. You have to say it out loud.

There’s something else I’ve noticed with my IMGs who do this regularly. After a few weeks, something shifts. They slow down. They start to sound like they actually want to know the answer. They say “that must have been very worrying for you” – and it sounds genuine, because it is genuine. The voice memo doesn’t just train your memory. It trains your presence as a doctor.

🩺 It builds more than recall

After consistent practice, my IMGs stop rushing. They start sounding curious rather than mechanical. That warmth and presence – the thing that makes a patient feel safe – gets built through repetition. The voice memo is where that transformation begins.

So yes – your neighbours may occasionally hear you asking about “any history of tuberculosis or contact with someone who has tuberculosis” through the wall at 9pm on a Wednesday. A small price to pay. You’re becoming the doctor your patients deserve.

Press record. Start talking. Listen back. Repeat until it feels like the most natural thing in the world.

You’ve got this. 💜

Dr Vinu Verghis

Fellowship in Medical Education

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