I’m back on a slow service. It’s so painfully slow I’m chronically tired from lack of work. I know. Too much work and I complain. Not enough work and I complain. At least I have time to read and study. We have the first ever Infectious Diseases In-Training Exam coming up. Sigh! I thought I was done with In-Service exams when I completed residency.
I don’t like these examinations generally. They are supposed to be a way for us to know where major gaps lie in our medical knowledge. Nothing wrong with that. But supposedly, they are also a marker for who is at risk for failing the Boards. That, I don’t agree with. Generally, with the in-service examinations, we just take it without preparing for it. When I register for a Board examination you can rest assured that I study for said examination to make sure I do well on it.
Anyway this is how it’s going to play. I’m not going to be able to study. I’m going to take the exam and give the best answer I can for each of the 200 questions in the 5 hours I have allotted. I’m then going to wait several months to get my score report and confirm that I lack knowledge in parasitology, transplant medicine, and other areas of ID I haven’t even touched on clinically during this past year. I’m also going to realize that although I have the breadth of knowledge with bacterial infections per se, I don’t yet know all the intricacies because I haven’t read Mandell!!!! Shhh! Don’t tell anyone. Then I will sit down with the Program Directors, who will say, “obviously you need to read more”, or some-thing like “are you not a good test-taker?” because people always seem to think I’m very smart when I talk. No worries though. I will read, study, and prepare for the real infectious diseases board certification exam in 2009 and pass it with flying colours like I always do.
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