Mexico Medical Student |

I have my wife’s sister and distant relative as houseguests this week since they are on Spring Break from the US. It’s my sister-in-law’s first time here, and they are trying to get in all they can. It’s been a bit trying because she’s loud and doesn’t really always get that I have to study. It hasn’t been that bad, and lately they’ve been keeping themselves busy, which is good since Claudia can’t really be a chauffeur across whole city either.

So the other guest, who is a public school teacher of many years (don’t know what level) asked what kind of exam I had the other day since I mentioned I had one. “Behavioral Science,” I said.
“What’s that?”
“I thought it would be like an intro to psychiatry but it’s more like basic clinical psychology — we kinda spend more time talking about definitions and theories. We set the stage to talk about clinical things but then move on to the next topic before we get anything interesting [to me, anyway].” I didn’t dare mention the movies.
“Oh. I meant what kind of test is it, like essay or multiple choice…”
“Oh, sorry. Multiple choice, definitely. Our boards are all multiple choice tests, so they’re patterned after them.”
“Oh that’s good; multiple choice tests are so much easier. At least they aren’t essay exams. I hate essays.”
(fighting urge to say, “What?!? Do you want me to show you my USMLE First Aid book? The question is practically an essay, lady!”) Showing complete decorum, I replied, “Well, actually many times I’d prefer an essay test, that way I could at least say what I knew on a topic rather than deal with being all right (20%) or all wrong (80%). A MC test can be really difficult splitting hairs with the answers.”
Not budging, she replied, “Well, I know that when I would take a MC test, if I saw a word or something that reminded me, I’d remember the answer.”
“And that is precisely the trap they lay every time,” I thought to myself. But all I said was, “Yes, it does help sometimes,” and left it at that.

People who aren’t exposed to this level of sadistically rigorous testing (I sure as hell wish I wasn’t) just won’t understand, I know better than to be haughty or defensive about it. However, it did sort of jar me back into the “real world” and made me yearn for a time in my recent past and hopefully not-too-distant future when I’m past this maniacal “prove yourself on paper” phase of my training.