We were out to dinner last night — a little family celebration. As we’re talking the topic turns to Christmas Eve. My nine year old asks, “how late did you stay up?” Now we hosted Christmas Eve dinner with 17 people, and the kids didn’t get to bed until 1130.
My wife answer, “12:30.”
My son’s response, “Did you see Santa?”
My wife, “No.”
My son, “That’s because you are Santa.”
And then he unleashed an unstoppable argument with rock-solid supporting details. He was like the Juggernaut while my wife and I just stood there like reindeer in the headlights.
You eat the cookies, you wrap the presents in different paper and set them out, the bag couldn’t hold all the toys, flying reindeer???, getting into every house on the planet in one night???.
It was like he slammed down a Royal Flush on the table and my wife and I were holding a pair of twos.
I’ve always said I couldn’t answer a straight question about Santa. A vague question maybe, but a head-on “is Santa real?” that’s the tough one. And he went way beyond that.
The funny part is your exam is similar. In a sense, it isn’t real. It’s a pattern recognition and test-taking skills exam. It’s hardly a medical exam at all. And no one sees it. You have to look past what they present. If you want to pass this thing you have to see through the smoke and mirrors and recognize exactly what’s going on here.
In the January edition of The Physician Assistant Exam Scholars newsletter, I’m pulling back the curtain on the Wizard of Oz. I’m going to show you a glimpse of how it’s done and how to view the exam in a new light. They’ll be a lot more in the coming months on this, but this issue is packed full of ideas to take to the bank. Like my number one tip for anyone who has trouble reading and understanding questions.
Get it before the New Year. The deadline approaches.