Exams and Experimentation

You would think that after over a year and 12 major exams blocks with nearly 50 exams, I'd be used to it. But I'm not. Like some vestigial, deep, primitive brain implantation, my "fight of flight" activates on the Saturday before exams. It's nerve wracking and no amount of medication, cheesecake or shock therapy seems to avert the inevitable stress of the not knowing. And the first ones of the term are definitely the worst cause we haven't got a clue how the new profs are going to test.

It's sort of a game, with some sport, but I know that it is a means to an end. Deep in side I know that it's just another hurdle and I can almost rationalize the reasons for this ancient torture called testing, but clearly this is not a good way to create physicians. My hindsight as an educator is very valuable, but also very damning. This process is just not right, productive, educational or inspiring. Thank goodness I actually love the science. And I do.

This term too is full of contrast. I'm quite sure I have both the best classroom professor I've had in a long time, and the worst. I'm fortunate on one hand, but it is unfortunate that there is still the misguided notion that great and learned physicians who are likely wonderful bedside teachers are automatically good classroom professors and course directors. To the contrary, it is almost predictable that the opposite is true. Real teaching, and course management is a completely learned, non-innate skill. It is not automatically bestowed upon the MD or DO graduate at any time during training. But as long as there is ego, and the paternalistic belief that it is automatic, we'll end up with very learned men and women, muddling their way thru being teachers. Too bad, this time, I have to be the guinea pig to testing the theory, once again.