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Backpack Bonding & The Dyslexia Police

So the backpacking and first-years bonding trip was wonderful. The hiking was nothing long or exciting; however, the company was wonderful. There were hours of campfire games, long conversations, and lascivious jokes…none of which can be repeated here. So I’ll leave you with some pictures.

As always coming home from the back country had its shocks: warm showers, microwave ovens, and bills. The first few days back were again frenetic—the hardest was the back to school shopping: a new laptop, and a not-so-hip-but-practical single speed bicycle. I hate spending money. My grandmother always used to say it was because I had inherited a Scottish Heart from her. Grandma grew up during the Great Depression in a tiny Midwest town of Scottish immigrants. In her, to be called “thrifty” was a complement outdone only by the famed “Scotch Heart”. It caused her physical pain every time food was thrown away.

After the errands came three days of testing for the Dyslexia Police–my name for the powers that dispense the accommodations for standardized tests. The standardized test this time round is the first step of the United States Medical Licensing Exam (USMLE).

Having a learning disability tested is a difficult experience. The testers are wonderful people, but the nature of the evaluation requires them to plum the depths of their client’s deficiency. This mean long hours of listening to strings of numbers and then trying to repeat them backwards, or trying to spell imaginary words (e.g. “gluff,” “lyphile,” “jefter”) or doing long division on one’s head. Perhaps worse than this are the flood of childhood memories such experiences bring back–the sinking feeling that one is failing a task, and failing it so horribly it will qualify one to be labeled retarded.

Sigh.

But it’s over now. Today was the first day of second year: renal histology, review of the physical exam. It’s a bit daunting, but it sure beats the pants off of trying to pronounce the word “lough” or factoring a three digit number as quickly as possible.