Post I failed to finish on October 10th.

Rady Children's!

Have you ever wondered if your Board-Certified Pediatrician really ever proved s/he knew what s/he was talking about?

Today Matt is spending 10 hours completing a 350-question, 100-page exam. Even though it's a scantron test, this exam still cost $2400! [Seriously?] Yes, seriously.

Those scantron readers must be getting pricey. :-.

The reason this test is 10 hours long, 350 questions, 100 pages and $2400 is presumably because a 4-year degree, the extra work to get accepted to medical school, 4 years of medical school, multiple board tests, and 3 years of residency training to the tune of 60-90 hours a week for minimal pay (while $100-300k of student loans keep racking up interest :-)) just aren't enough. Prove yourself! And why not make it expensive, too? ;-)

Here are some sample questions to marvel at! They ask such specific things about such a wide variety of cases.

A 12-year-old boy has had intermittent heartburn for the past several years. Results of an upper gastrointestinal radiographic series performed at age 11 years were normal. Over the past year, he has had several episodes of "food getting stuck in his chest." The most common foods that cause him difficulty are hot dogs, steak tips, and chicken strips. Physical examination findings are unremarkable. He has been treated with omeprazole for 3 months, but symptoms persist. Of the following, the MOST appropriate next diagnostic test is:
A. esophageal manometry study
B. esophagogastroduodenoscopy with biopsy
C. radionuclide gastric emptying scan
D. serum immunoglobulin E measurement
E. 24-hour esophageal pH probe study


The youngest child in a family affected by neurofibromatosis 1, who is 5 years old, has just had the diagnosis confirmed. You begin the process of counseling the family. Of the following, the MOST accurate statement about potential medical complications in affected children is that they
A. are at increased risk of developing cataracts
B. have an increased incidence of acoustic neuroma
C. have an increased incidence of childhood hypertension
D. should be restricted from contact sports
E. should be screened annually for optic gliomas using computed tomography scan


You are seeing a 12-month-old infant who was born at 26 weeks' gestation. He receives daily diuretics and nasal cannula oxygen with a baseline flow of 0.1 L/min, but his mother called this morning reporting that he had a temperature of 100.5 degrees F, nasal congestion, increased work of breathing with a rapid respiratory rate, and a "wheezing" cough. You instructed her to increase the oxygen flow rate to 0.5 L/min and come directly to the clinic. Physical examination reveals intercostal and subcostal retractions, a respiratory rate of 80 breaths/min, and a prolonged expiratory phase with audible wheezing. A copious, cloudy, green nasal discharge is present. No heart murmur is audible. Pulse oximetry while receiving 0.5 L/min oxygen reveals an oxygen saturation of 85% at rest. Of the following, the BEST explanation for this child's presenting signs of respiratory distress is:
A. acute cor pulmonale
B. foreign body aspiration
C. gastroesophageal reflux
D. lower respiratory tract infection
E. upper respiratory tract infection


[This one KILLS me! Haha! Yes, people ask their pediatricians everything and, guess what? They've studied everything. Haha!]

A mother brings in her 10-year-old daughter and 8-year-old son because they are fighting constantly. The son says he hates having a sister and complains that his parents favor her and give her everything she wants. The daughter says that her brother is spoiled and always touches her stuff. The other is frustrated by their constant fighting and asks for assistance in handling her children. Of the following, the BEST initial guidance for the mother is to
A. explain that this is typical of siblings and she should ignore the behavior
B. give her a list of books on parenting
C. refer her to a behavioral therapist to improve her parenting skills
D. suggest she use behavioral modification techniques to diminish fighting
E. tell her to return in 6 months if the siblings are still fighting

[Hahahahaha!!!!]

Times 100 pages.

I could hyperventilate thinking about how every question may have multiple correct answers but you only get credit for choosing "the MOST appropriate." Flipping through Matt's practice tests, I could also hyperventilate thinking about the sheer breadth of knowledge he's been expected to amass. And he's really done it! It's incredible. To think that when we got married, I actually had more formal education than he did. :) But since then.... Wow. Just look at what he's learned, and how he blesses the lives of children and their families. It's truly amazing, even awe-inspiring to me.

Perhaps even more amazing and awe-inspiring...? He actually thinks my learning in the past decade has kept pace with his! (The ambiguity of it notwithstanding.) HAH! While I'm grateful for that, I also think he's insane. Haha! All joking aside, though, how grateful I am that we intrigue each other, that we married someone comparably intelligent, with complementary interests and interesting thoughts. If we weren't so fascinating to each other, who knows what kind of gap Matt's education and career could have created between us. I'm grateful every day that he is doing something he loves, that he's so darn good at it!, and that our unity continues to be strengthened as we, somehow, do this totally together.

And I'm grateful he finished that board exam!

Post-script: Matt texted me halfway through the exam (lunch break) and lamented that he was so, so BORED. He wanted to die. I thought that was a good sign. Haha! And he came home glad to be done, feeling that out of the 350 questions, there were only 30 he wasn't sure about. So I'd say, unless he grossly misjudged himself, we should expect a passing score! Now we don't have to think about it until . . . Pediatric Cardiology Boards . . . . Oh, it never ends. :)

Our iPhones tell the story of what we do all day....

Me:

Sending a text to Matt when my eye hurt and he asked to see what it looked like.

Goofing off with Seth (and Maren,  below).

Letting Seth take my picture at the beach.

Matt:

Ok. Well.... Maybe we don't spend our days so differently after all. 

:-)