Mnemonics for ROS

1. CARDIO
A guy climbing stairs after being at a restaurant (old Netter drawing) in the winter,
note he’s wearing shorts, no gloves and no scarf (modified it a lot)
- He’s clutching his chest w/ left hand = signifies chest pain,
palpitations, arrhythmia's since these 3 reasons cause
someone to clutch their chest
- Since it’s cold outside and he has no gloves/scarf, his hands/fingernails/
mouth are blue (ask about distal extremity/nail-bed/peri-
orbital cyanosis)
- He has a history book in his right hand (signifies to ask about hx of
heart issues including murmurs/valve issues previously
diagnosed
- His legs (remember wearing shorts), are defined (signifies to ask about
claudification/cramping in legs with movement/exercise)
- He has that cartoon-like swirly dizzy appearance above his head
signifying he’s about to fall and for you to ask about syncope

2. RESPIRATORY
The respiratory trail
- Imagine scene on top of a mountain (high altitude signifies dry air and
low O2 = difficulty breathing) with some climbers that reached
the top
- 1 guy is simply coughing out colored (not bloody) sputum onto hands
(ask about cough w/ any sputum production, and what color
it is)
- 1 guy is resting on top of a rock while leaning forward to catch his
breath, signifies to ask of pleuritis (leaning forward to catch
breath from painful deep breathing)
- 1 guy reached the top with a blood nose (dry air) (ask about
bloody sputum)
- Finally, a woman is in distress and is using an inhaler (ask about S.O.B
and wheezing)
- They are all wearing blue coats (ask about cyanosis)

3. GI
- 2 images to this since it’s very broad (Sorry!)
1. Guy simply eating at a table at home with a friend
- He’s choking on a chunk of food and thus he’s grabbing with both hands
at his throat (ask about dysphagia)
- His friend, who’s next to him, appears frightened of this situation
(instead of helping him) and appears nauseas and looks like
he’s going to vomit
- The table has red colored tomato soup in bowls (bloody vomit)
- There’s a box of tums on the table (simple = indigestion
regurgitation?)
- Yellow table cloth = Ask about jaundice
- Milk on table = Ask about ANY intolerances (Lactose intolerance
should come to mind when you see milk specifically)
2. This one is sort of extensive, but imagine a military type of bathroom. From
movies I remember that the military bathrooms had several toilets next
to each other in a big bathroom so just imagine several soldiers I guess trying
to have bowel movements…
- Soldier #1: Easy, simply diarrhea all over the toilet
- He’s also reading a history book with a bullet hole in it (ask
about hx of ulcers = ulcers = hole in book)
- Soldier #2: Can’t go, grabbing at stomach in distress (obviously ask
about constipation & abdominal pain, tenesmus = difficulty
defecating)
- He also has a balloon with him (air in balloon = ask about
flatulence)
- Soldier #3: This guy is a mess. He’s on the toilet with bloody stains all
over it (ask about bloody stool including MELENA
stool…)
- His butt is red (ask about rectal itching/pain & hemorrhoids)
- He’s holding a calendar in his hands
- He’s trying to schedule an appointment with a Doc for a
rectal exam (ask about previous rectal exams)
* these images are disgusting but it makes memorizing it quick and easy

4. NEUROLOGICAL
Imagine a psychiatry clinic waiting room with 3 people in it
1. Moody teenage girl — A girl sitting in a chair that looks angry (ask about
change in personality)
2. Old guy in chair
- He’s sleeping (ask about loss of consciousness)
3. Guy w/ his foot in a cast with crutches, wincing in pain as old man’s cane
falls on injured foot, also he’s got a neck brace
- The site of crutches:
- Ask about disturbance in motor function (trouble w/ mobility)
- Ask about disturbance in equilibrium (have you felt
unbalanced)
- The site of the full cast (can’t feel through it)
- Disturbance of sensory function (anesthesia, hypesthesia,
paresthesia (burning/tingling)
- Wincing in pain = (ask about hyperesthesia)
- Neck brace = Ask about head or spine injuries
4. Sign on wall says “new special medications available” = Ask about special
sensory loss (smell, taste, balance, hearing)
* Random ones to remember: Convulsions, tics, headache

5. MUSCULOSKELETAL
Imagine the image of an NFL football player in the stadium’s clinic after getting
tackled too hard during a game
- An ice pack is resting on his knee (ask everything about knee: Arthralgia/
arthritis/Joint stiffness)
- He has a towel around his neck: Ask about neck pain
- A physical therapist is rubbing his thigh muscles (myalgia, muscle weakness)
- His football helmet is next to him and it is dented in (ask about deformities)
- Finally, an x-ray is being viewed by the team physician (ask about: pain in
bone & fractures)
6. ENDOCRINE
 Simple, imagine a skinny lady with hyperthyroidism eating at an all you can eat
picnic
- She has mass in her neck (ask about goiter)
- She has a lot of food in front of her (ask about polyphagia)
- She has a tall glass of water (ask about polydipsia)
- She is laying down on a picnic blanket/spread (ask about fatigue)
- It is a sunny, warm day (ask about heat intolerance)
- There is porter potty near by in the distance (ask about polyuria)

7. EAR
Imagine a tired guy waking up out of bed to go to work in the morning
- Alarm clock ringing = (ask about tinnitus & hearing loss)
- He’s drooling (ask for drainage)
- Ear is reddened (ask about ear pain)
- He’s stumbling out of bed (ask about dizziness/vertigo)

8. Genitourinary
Imagine a location of a big dam during the night time, and a couple of kids
snuck in and are at the side that has water behind it, waiting to be
released once the damn opens, also please note that there are lamps on to light
up the area. If you still can’t imagine it, just look at this, this is what I
mean
https://www.google.com/search?q=dam&source=lnms&tbm=isch&sa=X&ved=0ahUKEwj1
nq2i3K_hAhVRQq0KHUzfDl8Q_AUIDigB&biw=1125&bih=634#imgrc=oJw85Q5Srro9kM:
- Since this is involving water & it’s at night = ask about nocturia
- The side of the dam that is supposed to be empty has holes in it and water
is leaking though = ask about incontinence
- The crank to open the damn is nearby, a kid (#1) is trying really hard to
push it to “open” = ask about difficulty with starting urination
- 1 kid (#2) is throwing rocks into the water filled part of dam =
ask about renal stones
- A kid (#3) with abdominal pain dropped his ice-cream into the water section
= ask about (1) discharge (vanilla ice cream =
pus/discharge) & (2) hernia (abd. pain)
- A Kid (#4) with a bloody nose (kids bleed from nose a lot I guess?) = Ask
about hematuria & trauma
- Water section of dam is pilling up with water (due to not opening the dam) and
so the water is becoming kind of turbulent/waves = ask about
change in urinary flow
- The ground that they are standing on has pot-holes in it (ask about sores)

How to remember Psychosocial

- First you work (ask everything about their work) then you go home (who do you
live with at home/relationships/do for fun?), and live your life (what is your
normal day like?), you argue (stressors/emotions), you spend
money (financial) and get help from family (support systems, religion)

Past Medical History

 - The child (childhood illnesses) was operated on in the hospital due to trauma, after
that, he was prescribed meds (meds/herbs) that he’s allergic to, it’s ok
though, he was immunized and maintained at the hospital.

Health Risk Factors

- TAS (1st 3 are things you choose to do (Tobacco, alcohol, social drugs)
- VEOW (think MEOW but 1st letter is different), things you can’t change (Violence,
Env. & occupational risks, weight)
- DES (things you can change: diet, exercise, smoke/CO detectors)
- GSHS ( Things you can avoid & that can have IMMEDIATE side effects: Guns, Seat
belt, helmets, safe-sex)