I'm like a speculum...

speculum
Originally uploaded by Ian D..

...that's how many medical examinations I have endured. Though, hopefully, most women don't bristle at the sight of me as they do upon glimpsing that bad boy.

Once again, a board examination detracts from my enjoyment of my final months of free time before I begin residency. This coming Saturday I'll take the second part of my USMLE Step II board exam, this one consisting of 12 standardized patient encounters that will demonstrate my proficiency in patient communication and the diagnosis/initial management of some common diseases. Alas, this test pretty much blows, and I am loathe to devote ample time to preparing for it. But I must. So, begrudgingly, I spent a few hours today, and I'll spend the rest of the next three days, studying like the obedient little student I am.

I wrote a long rant about the exam, its premise, and its implementation earlier today; however, I decided against publishing it, both in the interest of avoiding a needless increase in the negative Karmic energy of the world, and in the irrational fear that somebody from the National Board of Medical Examiners would come upon what I wrote and decide to fail me out of spite. Well, the latter is not really a concern for anyone not suffering from a paranoid delusion (thus not a concern for me!?!?), but in any case the rant served its purpose by providing a much needed catharsis. Now it's gone, deleted, and I'll hear no more about it, understood?

Well, I'm off to bed and then back to the books. I'll try to post intermittently for the next few days, then return to our regularly scheduled programming next week.