To be or not to be... (Part 2 of 2)

Four days later, as we proceed on to the 2nd part of my practical exams, which is known as short cases- 3 different departments other than that of the long case (Part 1 of 2), 10 minutes for each station comprising of examinations, probable diagnosis and discussion about the case.

The worse things about short cases for me (and probably for many others, as well) were the fact that it was so short a duration, one station after another, not to mention having to switch on and off for each station, which were all completely different system of examination. and to top it all, bringing 3 (in my case, 4) specialist examiners of all different departments.

Luckily this time, I was in the 3rd slot, meaning roughly after 1 hours and 15 minutes (i.e. 2 sessions of 30+/- minutes), i was called in.

With me, were a physician, surgeon, paediatrician and an obstetrician as examiners- 2 internal examiners ( i.e. own college lecturers) and 2 external examiners (i.e. invited doctors from government uni/hosp) for "quality control" because results must be agreed upon by all the examiners. The arrangement may not be the same for everybody as it was randomized but there must be both internal and external examiners.

Short case examination in many ways is all about the showmanship. Just do all the things you were taught to do, even if you know you won't find anything. Staying cool and calm is equally as important.

In that sense, since my Manipal days, I've always been grateful for the years of going through piano practical examination, back in primary and secondary school, when I had to perform in front of English ang moh examiners, whom I've never met before in my entire life and would probably never meet again. I feel that because of such exposure since my young age, I don't really get nervous "performing" in front of examiners. It's the waiting for my turn that bothers me still... And of course, the anxiety of not knowing enough to answer the questions.

Anyway, my first station was examination of the abdomen- a surgical case of an enlarged liver. Next station was lead by a paediatrician to a small boy with both legs deformity and walking tip-toeing. Lastly, was to a pregnant lady whose baby was too small for its age.

The last station was probably the funniest when I relate to everybody. I had always had problems understanding this internal examiner's speech. He tends to mumble, speaks very fast, and has a very strong indian accent, which until today, I do not always comprehend what he says. More often than not, I catch the keywords and guess my way as to what he is asking. But of all the days, that method just had to fail this time. It was so bad that up to a point, I had no choice but to say, "I'm very sorry, Sir. But I don't understand what you are saying." And that was when the other examiners tried to explain to me, in their own words, what the question was!! Lol....

That 30 minutes came and went like a blink of an eye. The next thing I know, I was being quarantined with those who had went through the exam and we were all busy relating our cases and what took place during the examination.

The fact that the last station was when the "miscommunication" took place, I felt really, really bad after that. I knew my examination technique was fine and I was able to pick up findings but the discussion that ensued made me really nervous that I might be called for reassessment.

Unlike after the long case, even though my exams was finally over, I felt worse than ever.

The next night, about 7.30pm, the reassessment list was put up. My name was not there. What a relieve!

BUT, not having my name up there, could also mean that it was a straight fail i.e. below 45%, in which case, I would not be eligible for reassessment at all. After convincing myself that I could not possibly had done so poorly, just because I couldn't answer a few questions, or answered a few questions wrongly (due to poor communication), I started packing up my books.

Either way, there's no turning back. I've decided that I want to be....