Dr. Kevin (Fictional Name) appeared in the final practical exam of the Master of Surgery (MS) degree in AIIMS, New Delhi. After the exam, Dr. Dev (Fictional Name) discussed how was the performance of the exam going junior residents with the senior resident who was in the team conducting the exam. The senior resident gave the feedback that Dr. Kevin was one of the top-scoring students in the exam but in the long case the external examiners had become suspicious of his performance as he had done too well and answered the questions of the examiners too quickly.
The problem arose that usually, the MS surgery gets patients suffering from diseases of the liver, stomach, gall bladder, intestine, etc. in their final practical exam. The residents take the history of the disease and examine the patient. The examiner then asks the candidate what is their provisional diagnosis and their reason for making the diagnosis, how will they investigate and confirm the diagnosis and how will they treat the patient. Dr. Kevin by pure chance got a rare case of abdominal aortic aneurysm in the exam.
For non-medicos: The aorta is the largest artery in the human body and carries oxygenated blood from the heart to various parts of the body. An aneurysm is a condition when a part of it becomes dilated like a sac.
As such patients are usually dealt with by cardio-thoracic-vascular surgeons and rarely seen in the general surgery ward, most general surgeons are not well versed in the fine details of its treatment and complications. But unknown to the examiners, Dr. Kevin wanted to do further specialization in cardiothoracic surgery after clearing his MS exam and therefore had studied this condition in great detail than other residents. (He in fact later migrated to the USA and become head of the department of Cardiac surgery in a prestigious hospital there.) So when by sheer coincidence he got allotted the case, he was able to answer quickly all the questions of the examiners, which a normal student would have trouble answering even after much thought.
The external examiners coming from outside of AIIMS become suspicious that Dr. Kevin has cheated or colluded with the senior resident organizing the exam. Either he knew the day before that he will be allotted that particular case in the exam and had prepared accordingly or in between, he has surreptitiously consulted some textbook before the viva.
The internal examiner from AIIMS assured the external examiners that the procedure of allotment of cases is fair and random and a watchful eye has been kept on all candidates to prevent cheating during exams. Luckily the external examiner got convinced and did not give any negative marks to Dr. Kevin for suspected cheating.
As Don in the 1978 Indian movie by the same name had so famously said,
‘Mujhe do tarah ki ladkiyan pasand nahi aati ... ek woh joh mere pass aane mein bahut derr lagaye ... aur ek woh joh bahut jaldi aa jaye’
‘I don't like girls of two types ... one who takes a lot of time to come to me ... and the other who comes to me very quickly’
In the first situation, he gets frustrated/angry at the delay
Similarly, if you answer too slowly or take too long to answer, the examiner will get the impression that you do not know your subject well, and if you answer too quickly he may feel that you are either cheating somehow or trying to show off your knowledge.
If he believes you are cheating, he may give you negative marks. If he thinks you are trying to show off he may try to trip you up with some trick question which may not be clear if you did not think well about the question before answering.
Also, there is usually a time limit per candidate. Frequently the questions asked at the beginning of a viva or interview are usually simpler, general, and more exploratory in nature. As the viva or interview progresses, the question becomes more complex, more specific, and tough. By slow deliberate thinking and answering from the beginning the time allotted to the candidate may get used up in the basic and intermediate difficulty questions. There may not be enough time left for difficult or controversial questions and the candidate may finish the exam/interview/viva with a good impression and full marks.
So notwithstanding the advice given in The Correct Answer Resident https://agnipathdoctors.blogspot.com/2021/01/the-correct-answer-resident.html unless you are playing rapid-fire answer in a quiz, pause, think, and then give your answer in exams, viva, or interviews.
— ND
(Based on an allegedly true incident.)
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DISCLAIMER: This article is intended only for fun purposes. The author does not promote or recommend any behavior illustrated here or claim it to be useful. Use the information herein is at your one's own risk. Before trying to emulate or follow anything the reader is well advised to take into account ethical, moral, legal, and other considerations. The author recommends that Medical Practice should be of the highest ethical and moral level keeping in mind the interest of the patient as foremost.
DISCLAIMER: This article is intended only for fun purposes. The author does not promote or recommend any behavior illustrated here or claim it to be useful. Use the information herein is at your one's own risk. Before trying to emulate or follow anything the reader is well advised to take into account ethical, moral, legal, and other considerations. The author recommends that Medical Education should be of the highest ethical and moral level keeping in mind the interest of the patient as foremost and according to MCI and other Board norms.
