Patient interview

How to interview a patient with numbness and tingling

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

MD / DOPA
Practice it in VR with Blocky

The pattern of numbness points to the cause: one nerve, one root, both feet, or the brain.

Step by step

  1. Introduce yourself and get consent

    Ask the patient to show where they feel it. [1]

  2. Pattern

    One hand (carpal tunnel), one strip of the arm or leg (nerve root), both feet like socks (neuropathy), one whole side (brain). [2]

  3. Onset

    Sudden one-sided numbness may be a stroke. [3]

  4. Weakness and other symptoms

    Weakness, balance problems, bladder or bowel changes, back or neck pain. [3]

  5. Causes

    Diabetes, alcohol, B12 deficiency, thyroid, chemotherapy, kidney disease. [3]

  6. Summarize and plan

    Explain the exam and blood tests. [1]

Common errors

Practice it in VMS

In VMS 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.

VMS cases that train this skill

19 VMS cases train this skill: open the case library

Sources

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

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