Medical board exam is tomorrow

Around this time of the year, the library is packed. The mood is quiet, hushed even, because one can't bear to disturb the new graduates as they prepare for the dreaded medical boards.

They look pained, bored, and sleepy. In between breaks, you'd see them reposition their headphones. During 10-minute breathers, they'd browse through their iPod song list to pick the right music—it must not be too slow to induce sleepiness and not too loud to be distracting.

Highlighters of various colors are sprawled on the tables, like crayons in Sunday School. Books of encyclopedic proportions are open, their pages awaiting another round of underlining. Many pens are scattered, while some are neatly tucked in crumpled notebooks.

I remember talking to Kuya Jasper Dagang in one of the Agape Prayer Meetings. When he saw me reviewing for a long exam, he said, "Know what? I'd pick that test over the boards, given a choice," he said.

"It must be hard, remembering everything you learned in med school," I said. "I mean, preparing for one long exam alone is hard."

He told me they only ask the basics, but one can't be too lax. I would eventually see him and his friends in the library, burying their heads in books, even unintentionally sleeping on them.

The medical board exam starts tomorrow. I'm praying for the members of UP College of Medicine Class of  2010, especially my friends Jasper Dagang, Daryl Dagang, and Fides Castor. May the Lord be the source of their strength, wisdom, and joy. May God's grace be upon them.