Still studying for the American Board of Internal Medicine Maintenance of Certification Exam: what's wrong with this picture?
Really nothing is wrong with still studying. I'm still enjoying it and absorbing some non-negligible percentage of what I'm reading. There is just a tremendous amount of stuff that has become commonly held truth since I last took this exam. But as I study, which is still following the general form of reading a multiple choice question from the MKSAP (American College of Physicians Medical Knowledge Self Assessment Program) then reviewing various sources on anything that I don't feel totally confident about, some of the patient vignettes demonstrate a lack of attention to the big picture. The multiple choice questions are all case presentations, which is good since it keeps me engaged. Here are a few of the more disturbing ones out of the hematology/oncology section which I am working on now, reworded, simplified beyond recognition. 1. A 70 year old severely demented man, living at home with his wife, very thin, presents in bad shape with respiratory failure and pneumo...