Sigh of Relief

It's been over two weeks since my last blog. I have a good reason for this. I just took the Emergency Medicine Oral Board Exam. If I pass, I'll officially become a specialist.

The exam itself was such a unique and artificial experience. It consisted of case simulations. The examiner would play multiple parts (patient, patient's family, nurse, consultants) and I would be the doctor. Typical encounters included:

Me: "What do I see when I enter the room?"
Examiner: "You see a 56 year old man clutching his chest in obvious pain."

Me: "Sir, what brings you to the hospital today?"
Examiner "Well, doc, I was mowing my lawn and I suddenly felt this terrible pain in the center of my chest that goes to my back."

Me: "Nurse, please place an IV in the patient and obtain a chest x-ray."
Examiner: "The IV is placed and here are your results" (I would then be handed an x-ray)

The case would end when I sent the patient home or transferred the patient to the care of another doctor (i.e. the cardiac surgeon). I was graded on how well I gathered information, the treatment I administered, and my understanding of the case when I had to explained it to the patient or another doctor.

The whole environment was very artificial. I likened the experience to playing a game and I was getting better with each case (simply because I was learning the game). A friend of mine who took the exam agreed: we'd hate to fail it and have to retake it, but if we did we would definitely pass.