SOAP Mentality

The first question is can you define what S.O.A.P. stands for?  This alone could be a question on your MBLEx.  Here’s the breakdown:

S = Subjective = This is information that the client gives you (examples would include: headache, pain in a part of the body, numbness, tingling, nausea).

O = Objective = This is the information you gather (examples would include palpation, posture assessment, gait analysis, visual observation).

A = Assessment = This is where you put the subjective and the objective information together to form an idea of what you think is going on with the client.

P = Plan = This is where you determine what should be done based on the assessment. This includes what you do as a massage therapist and what you advise the client to do.

OK, now that we are perfectly clear on what S.O.A.P means the next question is, what do I mean by an S.O.A.P. mentality?

            I tell all students that they should go into the exam with an S.O.A.P. mentality, which means that they should be thinking like a therapist who would be writing down S.O.A.P. notes when they are reading the test questions.  Especially the client assessment and the pathology case study questions.  These questions are written like an S.O.A.P. note.  The question will typically give you subjective information followed by (possibly) objective information and then it will ask a question that is either seeking the assessment or the plan aspect of the S.O.A.P. notes.

Here is an example question:

A client presents with stiffness and mild pain in her leg. The practitioner notes that her foot is everted.  Which of the following muscles would the practitioner target to lengthen?

The first sentence is the subjective information.  The second sentence is the objective information. And the final sentence is asking for the plan.  If you are thinking with an S.O.A.P. note mentality you see this information the way that I am describing it, and you also are thinking about your assessment before you answer the question that is looking for the plan.

This type of thinking process will help you do better on the MBLEx.