Today, right now, redmed is being grilled for about two hours by a small panel of senior folks in her specialty. They have her CV, as well as a case listing of all the patients she’s seen in the past two years. They can ask anything, and they’re supposed to give no feedback by which you could guess how you’re doing. You pass or you fail. “Certified for the independent practice of the medical arts in your specialty” or “not.” That’s it. Folks who have done a PhD might recognize this as being something like oral quals, except that it’s at the end of the training process and there’s no “thesis” to defend as such, it’s just you.
For my part, I’m wrestling with Intel compilers while sitting at a coffee shop off Harvard Square. Given the choice, I’ll take my day.
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