Newly diagnosed gestational diabetes — counselling and shared decision-making station

Station brief

Format. Simulated-patient communication station, approximately 12 minutes. A trained actor plays the patient. The assessor observes and feeds two pieces of new information. There is no examination and no procedure. ^[1]

Candidate instruction. Explain the diagnosis, correct the misinformation she has brought with her, negotiate a monitoring plan that fits night shifts, explain what escalation to medication would mean, agree a plan for birth, and set the postpartum follow-up. Verbalise everything. ^[1]

Her results (provided on the stimulus sheet). 75 g two-hour pregnancy OGTT at 27+5 weeks: fasting 5.0 mmol/L, one hour 11.4 mmol/L, two hours 9.3 mmol/L. Booking bloods normal, BMI 24 kg/m2, singleton, normal anatomy scan, no other medical history. ^[1]