A few thoughts on The Boards

Since the second half of the second part of the lengthy process commonly called "The Boards" is quickly looming (we're down to 36.5 hours), I decided to post a few of my thoughts about taking multiple choice tests to determine whether or not we know how to treat patients. Here are thoughts numbers 1 and 2:

Obviously, when faced with real patients, they don't come with charts that say "What is the appropriate next step in treating this condition? A) Chest x-ray. B) Chest CT. C) FAST scan. D) Emergent laparotomy. E) Transfer to surgical ICU. F) Draw blood for type and cross." In fact, in many situations, multiple things are happening at once, and it really is impossible to determine which one is happening first. For example, when you have a trauma patient come in, they are getting IVs put in, fluids running, blood drawn for type and cross as well as cell counts and electrolytes, someone is listening to the lungs while someone else is examining the legs, etc. In multiple choice tests, you only get to pick one next thing that is happening.

Thought number 3:

It's a soul-sucking process of sitting in front of a computer clicking little bubbles all day, and to study for it, you sit in front of a computer and click little bubbles all day. Ugh. It could be worse, though; it used to be sitting at a desk with a number two pencil, filling in bubbles all day.

And now a little Calvin and Hobbes:

Yeah, I just happened to find that when Googling for the other comics, so it was added.

So there you go; my thoughts on the evilness of The Boards. Oh, and if all this nonsense weren't enough, here's anything fun fact: each part of The Boards costs $480-$1000. So yes, we are paying for the privilege of being tortured like this.

The countdown:

CK: 36 hours, 2 minutes