Say Anything: Explanation of Truancy

In approximately 8 weeks, I-- along with every 4th year radiology resident in the country-- will go to Louisville Kentucky where the entirety of my last 31 (err... I mean 29) years of training will culminate in one event that strikes fear in the heart of everyone in this field... the Oral Boards. 4 consecutive hours (no breaks, potty or otherwise) of taking unknown cases in 11 different sections, all under the intense scrutiny of of an examiner in whose hotel room you are being examined. Yes, the hotel room in which they sleep, brush their teeth, and well... use the potty. Bizarre? Absolutely. Stressful? Incomparably so.

Thus, as my task between now and May is to learn everything there is possibly to know about radiology (and avoid being an invisible Mommy and Wife), my work days are often 12 hours long when board reviews are added in, and studying should be occupying all of my free time. In reality, I reserve a good amount of that time for reading Charlie and Lola books, having tea parties, and drawing spaceship scenes by command of a precociously imaginative 2 year old.

When I first started medical school, someone made the analogy that it was going to be like trying to drink from a fire hydrant. Preparing for the Boards is similar, although instead of just trying to survive and consume a bit of water along the way, the goal this time is to catch every droplet in the stream without letting a single moelcule pass by. So blog posts may be few and far between over the next couple of months, but I will leave you with a few Elle-isms in the interim.

All three of us on the couch one morning:

Jay: Elle, would you please grab the phone for me?

E: I can't Daddy. I'm too busy sitting in my Mommy's lap.