COMLEX PE Eve

So at this time tomorrow I will be at the National NBOME clinical skills site taking my PE exam. Meaning that 1/2 of my exams will be over. I have been practicing with my friend for the last month and tonight I will practice a few more with my brother before calling it an evening and relaxing my brain and getting into the zone for tomorrow.

I have had many patient encounters before tomorrow. Not just in my rotations but my school had provided me with a great foundation for what I am about to experience. But still, an exam is an exam. Especially one that your future hangs on.

In less than a week, in fact in 4 days I will be taking the CK portion, the written portion. To date, I have done 1725 practice questions and my averages are around the range I want them to be. Part of the secret may just be to have the confidence in myself that I will pass the exam and that there will be questions on there that I will never know the answer. I am not sure if they are going to throw out those questions or they are designed to separate the men from the boys, so to speak. However, the hardest part of this whole month of studying was not the studying, but rather was to tell my girls "no" when they wanted to play.

Of course, one can say "I will have time to study later, but my children will never be this age again." And while that is true, you need to ask yourself "If I were working a 9-5 job, they would not even be asking me to play because I would be at work right now". Which is why I am a proponent of the quality time versus quantity of time. This weekend, I will certainly rest my brain before getting ready for my Emergency Medicine rotation that starts on Monday. In addition, I need to start preparing for my residency interviews that are coming up.

Hopefully once my board scores come in, I will get more interviews as program directors see that I have passed.

After the boards, the nerve wracking over where I will match will begin and once that comes and goes, then the fun will begin and relaxation can really start. Until of course indentured servitude of internship year starts. But hey, I will be doing what I have always wanted to do and that is be a doctor.

A couple of weeks to go

I cannot believe that there are only 2.5 weeks to go before I take my boards. I have been studying like a mad man and yet it never feels like it is enough. I know that I have the knowledge and the studying is helping me stir the brain and get the material out. However, I seem to have 1 issue that no amount of studying can help with.......

I have to STOP changing my answers!!!!!! For the love of G-D, my first instinct has been correct more often than not, yet I seem to second guess myself because I over think things when I review the questions. I even wrote a note on my note book: STOP CHANGING YOUR ANSWERS!!!!!!

Any way. That will happen from now on. I have been reviewing my practice tests and have been ensuring that I answer the questions correctly for the right reasons. I am sure that I will do fine. In the meantime, I have scheduled 3 residency interviews for October and I hope that once I get my board scores back and they are acceptable that I will receive more. I am limited by geography because we have planted roots in the South Jersey area and do not want to move. So I applied to programs that are about an hour away.

We are entering my favorite time of year. The Fall and the 'ber months (September, October, you get it) and I cannot wait for the weather to get cool and we can sleep with the windows open (I do anyway, except in the summer) and can smell the leaves on the ground and the nights come sooner. Then one of my favorite holidays will be upon us; Thanksgiving. This year it will be at my parents' house which is great because frankly, my wife and I are beat. From having my schedule and a new baby we are spent. And then for the first time in probably 2 years we are actually going to be home for Chanukah.

Things are progressing nicely. Although it would have been much much easier had I done it right the first time. Funny thing. In my last rotation, one of the Attending Doctors and I were in the same Dorm during freshman year in college. She on the 4th floor and I on the 2nd floor. So if I did things right the first time, then I would have been an Attending by now. However, I believe that things happen for a reason. I am sure that I have said it before but I will say it again. I was so unfocused when I was in college that had I been accepted to medical school I may have well failed and then I would be without recourse to be a doctor. Now that I am older, I am more focused, probably because I not only have matured but I have worked hard to get here and have even more to loose if I do fail. Funny thing is that many patients think that I am 26 years old. The last thing they believe is that I am 36, a husband, and father of 4.

This week was back to school for my kids. Even little Amy is going to the babysitter. Here is a picture of them on the first day.