I Might Have a Chance

The Ozark Mountains - if only I could just study there.

It's funny this OKAP thing. It used to be the day would come and go. Some people studied hard for the test, some not at all. And if one did poorly on it, he or she maybe got a talking to, perhaps a gentle slap on the hand, and was told to do better next time. But then this phenomenon called "Faculty Retreat" would come around in the mid- to late-summer months, and certain faculty members would sit around and discuss how lazy or ill-prepared the residents were. Some of the most outspoken faculty members are minimally (if at all) involved with our training/education - but again, that's another discussion all together.  All the while, residents are present at the retreat but with little chance to voice a rebuttle.

So now the stakes are higher. If one does poorly, he or she must do some sort of remediation. Well no one wants to see any of us have to remediate; or at least no one wants to have to take time out of their schedule to remediate us. So now we spend a lot of time having review sessions leading up to the test (hey, anything to get out of grand rounds!).

What it has become, though, is somewhat of a pissing contest. Each facutly who is largely responsible for a particular topic, say cornea or optics or whatever, wants the residents to do the best on that section. I think there have been more review sessions this year than in past years. With all of them to attend, I might have a chance to average out okay in the end.

I need to do well. Firstly, to rub it in the faces of the above mentioned facutly. (Don't get me wrong, I like 99% of the faculty, but there are always those couple. . .) Secondly, wanting to go into oculoplastics, I need to do well. No, wait. I need to do fucking awesome.