Physics boards

Well, this last Monday I took my physics boards. This is the test that I have been looking forward to with eager anticipation since, oh, undergraduate days, after all, two years of dedicated physics instruction should have made this test a cakewalk. And well, it was, kind of.

As the big day slowly approached I wondered whether I should get a hotel the night before in Scranton (think "The Office") or if I should wake up early Monday morning to make the drive and ensure I arrived 30 minutes before the early appointment of 8:00 a.m. Being the cheap guy that I am, I decided to just risk the night before a $900 test asleep in my own bed, with a wife getting out of bed multiple times, and a 3 week old infant that we don't dare put in her crib with her overly loving 2-year-old sister.

My night's sleep was about as good as could be imagined. Excitement like a kid on Christmas eve, the sheets pushed completely off the bed because Dawn cannot stand to have the sheets on at night, and only two or three hours of the little one being awake. I got up at 5:00 and was out the door by 5:45.

I arrived at the testing center and one of my classmates arrived shortly afterward. He was smart and stayed in a hotel. At least I thought he was smart until he told me about his night. He stayed in a hotel that doesn't even qualify for the star rating system. He did not dare let the sheets touch him. When he saw his bed the sheets were covered with hair. He called the front desk asking for a change of sheets, he discovered his fresh sheets also were covered in hair. So much for a Scranton hotel.

My other classmate who was testing at the same site, fell asleep at about 1:30 am and was up around 3:30. He had already been at the testing center about an hour when I arrived.

So none of us really had a good nights sleep, but hey we're doctors. We're used to thriving on little or no sleep. If we could do something as simple as resuscitate a dying patient after 20 hours of no sleep, certainly we could survive two hours of test taking on slightly disturbed sleep.

Well the test wasn't all that bad, except the questions that I had never heard anything about, or the questions where they warped good science and confused suggestions with regulations. Seriously, never let biologists write a physics test, they get it all wrong. Maybe I'll take over the physics portion of the ABR, just so I can be satisfied that we have a good logical test.

Afterwards the four of us in my class met at my house for a small barbecue (tandoori chicken, pulled pork, stuffed mushrooms, and naan all on the grill) and a revamp of the test. That's when I realized how many stupid mistakes I had made on the test. Hopefully I won't be taking it again next year, because $900 is a lot of money to throw away at a test.

Now I need to decide what to do with myself. I have been anticipating this test for so many years, I don't have anything exciting to look forward to anymore, except starting to teach the physics lectures to the new first year residents who will take the same test (although with less excitement) in about 360 days and counting.