Practicing Oral

 After the completion of residency, the final steps in becoming board certified include an expensive written test, followed by an even more expensive oral exam. It's obvious what the written test consists of, but let me tell you about the bazaar nature of the oral exam.

It's hosted in a hotel somewhere. A bunch of examining ophthalmologists are there, each in individual hotel rooms. As the examinee, you go into a room (past the bathrooms and beds to the little window-side work table) and sit down. The examiner begins asking questions, covering several cases over about 30 minutes. Then it's on to the next room.

Did you catch the bazaar part? How about the fact this is done in hotel rooms, the very ones the examiner stayed in the night before? This is supposed to be a very formal exam, but I think this is somewhat hampered by being in a hotel room. I hope at least the beds are made and there isn't a hooker scurrying out of the room on my way in. Do think anyone is still in pajamas?

So anyway, we (the junior residents) had a very brief practice session yesterday - one case in one room (not a hotel) that lasted 3-5 minutes at most. We were each video taped and we then conglomerated in the conference room to watch each other when the examining was done. I think we all did fairly well, but I didn't realize how soft spoken I was in this type of testing situation. Maybe next year I'll bring a megaphone.