The most daunting task I faced when I commenced my clinical years in the hospital was the prospect of having to walk up to a complete stranger, introduce myself with the biggest smile and most sincere tone of voice and actually engage in a real conversation with him or her. It's not so hard now that I have clerked a couple of patients but back then when you are first starting out, your mind goes blank very quickly and often leaving you with a period of awkward silences whereby you start to wonder about your own competencies. Of course, patient clerking is not made any easier when you encounter the scenarios as depicted above. There's always too many non-English speaking gomers lying around on the ward.