‘Correct’ Answers on My Medical ‘Knowledge Assessment’

 

I just started the recertification process for my Family Medicine board certification.  Today I’m doing an online exam (which now has the academic-sounding name Knowledge Assessment) on general medicine – no specific topic like cardiovascular disease or dermatology.  It’s supposed to cover typical stuff that one is likely to encounter in a primary care office, and make sure you know what you’re supposed to do in various common situations.  The first few questions were as expected, rashes, heart disease, intestinal issues, and so on.  Typical stuff.  And then I get to question #6:

A 13-year-old who was assigned female at birth has been diagnosed with gender dysphoria.  His parents fully support their child and affirm his gender as male.  On examination the patient has a sexual maturity rating of Tanner stage 3.  Which one of the following steps would be appropriate for optimal support and therapy for this patient?

Ok.  So the patient was “assigned female at birth.”  I wonder why?  Eh, no matter, I guess.

And now this patient “has been diagnosed with gender dysphoria.”  Who diagnosed the patient with gender dysphoria?  How?  Is this doctor more likely to be correct than the doctor who “assigned female at birth“?

The question emphasizes that “His parents fully support their child…”  His?  Are you sure?  And what exactly does “support their child” mean?  Do they support “him” more than other parents support their children?

Tanner stage 3 means early puberty changes.  Which, if the patient was “assigned female at birth,” that means breast development, etc.

So then, I’m supposed to answer this.  And I need to get it right, so I can score high enough on the test to pass, and move on to the next stage of my recertification.  I know that the first answer, “Encouraging conversion of the patient’s gender identity to be congruent with the gender assigned at birth” is obviously wrong, and is only there to identify Republicans and other hate-filled bigots.  So I skip over that one.

Next, “Recommending delaying any gender-affirming treatment until he is at least 18 years old to prevent adverse psychosocial outcomes of puberty suppression“.  Of course not.  Another obvious trap.

The next choice seemed like a decent cop-out: “Ordering genetic testing and ultrasonography to confirm the gender assigned at birth“.  I chose this one, because I wouldn’t have to mutilate a healthy child, but I could sort of pretend to play along.  Why I would need “genetic testing and ultrasonography” to identify a girl I can’t imagine, but I chose this, because I just couldn’t bring myself to click on the obvious correct answer:

Recommending GnRH analogue treatment” – using hormone analogues to shut down puberty and normal development.

As you can see, I got the question “wrong.”  And my test grade fell a couple points.

They list “Peer Responses,” and 40% of physicians chose the correct answer.  Probably because it’s obviously correct, and they’re trying to pass a test.  I like to think that they wouldn’t actually do that to an actual child, but of course I don’t know.

Remember, this is a test question about a condition that didn’t exist until a few years ago.  And now, we have “correct” answers on tests about it.  You should bear in mind that we’re still arguing about how to treat heart disease, which has been killing people for as long as there have been people.  We’re still not sure.  But with trans-sexual children, we’re sure.  So sure, that it’s on the test.  With “correct” answers.

Just a few years ago, some women were more masculine than others.  That didn’t mean that they weren’t women.  And some men were more feminine than others.  That didn’t mean that they weren’t men.

But now, just as with leftism in general, there’s no room for diversity.  Try being a black Republican.  Or a Democrat who is anti-abortion.  Or a medical school professor who disagrees with hormone blockers in children who feel like the opposite sex.

This is how we’re treating kids who are finding their way through life.  If they don’t fully conform, then we tell them they’re sick.  There’s something wrong with them.  They require “treatment.”

The intolerance of the left is getting worse.  Fast.  In all sorts of different ways – even in medical recertification exams.

This is not the first time this has happened.  Looking at previous examples of leftist intolerance, the results have been horrific.

The memes and jokes write themselves for such absurdities.  But this is not funny.

This is scary, scary stuff.

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  1. Percival Thatcher
    Percival
    @Percival

    Muleskinner, Weasel Wrangler (View Comment):

    Sounds like a tale from the old Soviet Union.

    I was just wondering which arm of the Supreme Soviet was running this goat rodeo.

    • #31
  2. kedavis Coolidge
    kedavis
    @kedavis

    RufusRJones (View Comment):
    I never would’ve paid attention to her except she got invited to Saint Cloud state to speak by economist King Banaian, who is pretty socially conservative and he used to post here. 

    I missed King Banaian posting here?  Dang!

    • #32
  3. Western Chauvinist Member
    Western Chauvinist
    @WesternChauvinist

    First off, the diagnosis of “gender dysphoria” is an admission that there’s something *wrong* with the patient. “Dys” as a prefix means impaired, abnormal, or bad.

    Why would someone trained in medicine (or even just an English speaker who understands the language) choose to treat this person as if their mental disorder needs to be treated by chemical and surgical mutilation — by changing their body to fit (forever imperfectly) with their mental illness? Would you tell someone with anorexia you’ll help her lose weight?? Prescribe diet pills?? And these two conditions are very analogous because they are both mental illnesses where the patient’s self-description does not comport with reality. 

    This is the very definition of malpractice and I hope doctors who do this to children are sued into oblivion. It’d be even better if they end up in jail.

    We’re going to lose boatloads of good, decent doctors to this shtuff. Not to mention the devastation caused to people who succumb to the transgender fad.

    • #33
  4. RufusRJones Member
    RufusRJones
    @RufusRJones

    Western Chauvinist (View Comment):

    First off, the diagnosis of “gender dysphoria” is an admission that there’s something *wrong* with the patient. “Dys” as a prefix means impaired, abnormal, or bad.

    Why would someone trained in medicine (or even just an English speaker who understands the language) choose to treat this person as if their mental disorder needs to be treated by chemical and surgical mutilation — by changing their body to fit (forever imperfectly) with their mental illness? Would you tell someone with anorexia you’ll help her lose weight?? Prescribe diet pills?? And these two conditions are very analogous because they are both mental illnesses where the patient’s self-description does not comport with reality.

    This is the very definition of malpractice and I hope doctors who do this to children are sued into oblivion. It’d be even better if they end up in jail.

    We’re going to lose boatloads of good, decent doctors to this shtuff. Not to mention the devastation caused to people who succumb to the transgender fad.

    I don’t see anybody calling it “gender dysphoria”. Then they don’t do sort of professional, grown-up analysis just like you did.

    They do it on purpose to get their way. It’s a bunch of amateur Stalinist apparatchiks that get psychic reward from getting on this train that is mucking up society and harming kids.

    • #34
  5. DrewInWisconsin, Oik Member
    DrewInWisconsin, Oik
    @DrewInWisconsin

    Some people: Therapy to change someone from gay to straight is TOTALLY IMMORAL AND SHOULD BE ILLEGAL!

    Those same people: Therapy to change someone from male to female is the best thing ever!

    • #35
  6. Gossamer Cat Coolidge
    Gossamer Cat
    @GossamerCat

    RufusRJones (View Comment):
    Look up Deirdre McCloskey. Total cross dresser.

    If all they were doing was telling girls if they wanted to dress like boys, go ahead and do it, that would be one thing.   But they aren’t.  They are pushing irreversible and invasive medical treatments, like they did with the lobotomy and forced sterilization.  We don’t know the long term effects of these treatments and both history and common sense tell us that there will be significant negative consequences.  And yes they will be sued, but for those children were sacrificed on the alter of social pseudoscience, it will be too late. So on this issue, we cannot stand idly by and let them continue to mutilate innocent children.  I like to think if faced with this choice I would have chosen the “delay until age 18” answer.  Interesting that almost as many physicians chose this one as the so-called “right” answer.   Shows you there is still a sizable number of doctors who know they are playing with fire here. 

    • #36
  7. EODmom Coolidge
    EODmom
    @EODmom

    RufusRJones (View Comment):

    Western Chauvinist (View Comment):

    First off, the diagnosis of “gender dysphoria” is an admission that there’s something *wrong* with the patient. “Dys” as a prefix means impaired, abnormal, or bad.

    Why would someone trained in medicine (or even just an English speaker who understands the language) choose to treat this person as if their mental disorder needs to be treated by chemical and surgical mutilation — by changing their body to fit (forever imperfectly) with their mental illness? Would you tell someone with anorexia you’ll help her lose weight?? Prescribe diet pills?? And these two conditions are very analogous because they are both mental illnesses where the patient’s self-description does not comport with reality.

    This is the very definition of malpractice and I hope doctors who do this to children are sued into oblivion. It’d be even better if they end up in jail.

    We’re going to lose boatloads of good, decent doctors to this shtuff. Not to mention the devastation caused to people who succumb to the transgender fad.

    I don’t see anybody calling it “gender dysphoria”. Then they don’t do sort of professional, grown-up analysis just like you did.

    They do it on purpose to get their way. It’s a bunch of amateur Stalinist apparatchiks that get psychic reward from getting on this train that is mucking up society and harming kids.

    Remember that “they” have convinced a % of otherwise healthy people to routinely wear facial masks to go about their daily business without reason. And “they” have convinced another % of otherwise “intelligent” people to affix labels designating their sex to electronic and other communications in personal and business situations. Yes-it’s purposeful and it’s not based in any reality other than exercise of power.

    And – worst – there is another %of people who will not know that the presentation is false and what they learn in school will harm people. Those are the ones to be alert to – they learned little biology and biochemistry and cannot help people who are sick, and who we already know how to help.

    Then expand it to all the other professions that require specificity, clarity, accuracy and knowledge of how the natural world works. And think of all those who fought for that knowledge.

    • #37
  8. RufusRJones Member
    RufusRJones
    @RufusRJones

    Gossamer Cat (View Comment):

    RufusRJones (View Comment):
    Look up Deirdre McCloskey. Total cross dresser.

    If all they were doing was telling girls if they wanted to dress like boys, go ahead and do it, that would be one thing. But they aren’t. They are pushing irreversible and invasive medical treatments, like they did with the lobotomy and forced sterilization. We don’t know the long term effects of these treatments and both history and common sense tell us that there will be significant negative consequences. And yes they will be sued, but for those children were sacrificed on the alter of social pseudoscience, it will be too late. So on this issue, we cannot stand idly by and let them continue to mutilate innocent children. I like to think if faced with this choice I would have chosen the “delay until age 18” answer. Interesting that almost as many physicians chose this one as the so-called “right” answer. Shows you there is still a sizable number of doctors who know they are playing with fire here.

    No argument from me. 

     

    • #38
  9. RufusRJones Member
    RufusRJones
    @RufusRJones

    EODmom (View Comment):

    RufusRJones (View Comment):

    Western Chauvinist (View Comment):

    First off, the diagnosis of “gender dysphoria” is an admission that there’s something *wrong* with the patient. “Dys” as a prefix means impaired, abnormal, or bad.

    Why would someone trained in medicine (or even just an English speaker who understands the language) choose to treat this person as if their mental disorder needs to be treated by chemical and surgical mutilation — by changing their body to fit (forever imperfectly) with their mental illness? Would you tell someone with anorexia you’ll help her lose weight?? Prescribe diet pills?? And these two conditions are very analogous because they are both mental illnesses where the patient’s self-description does not comport with reality.

    This is the very definition of malpractice and I hope doctors who do this to children are sued into oblivion. It’d be even better if they end up in jail.

    We’re going to lose boatloads of good, decent doctors to this shtuff. Not to mention the devastation caused to people who succumb to the transgender fad.

    I don’t see anybody calling it “gender dysphoria”. Then they don’t do sort of professional, grown-up analysis just like you did.

    They do it on purpose to get their way. It’s a bunch of amateur Stalinist apparatchiks that get psychic reward from getting on this train that is mucking up society and harming kids.

    Remember that “they” have convinced a % of otherwise healthy people to routinely wear facial masks to go about their daily business without reason. And “they” have convinced another % of otherwise “intelligent” people to affix labels designating their sex to electronic and other communications in personal and business situations. Yes-it’s purposeful and it’s not based in any reality other than exercise of power.

    And – worst – there is another %of people who will not know that the presentation is false and what they learn in school will harm people. Those are the ones to be alert to – they learned little biology and biochemistry and cannot help people who are sick, and who we already know how to help.

    100%

    • #39
  10. RufusRJones Member
    RufusRJones
    @RufusRJones

     

     

     

    • #40
  11. Percival Thatcher
    Percival
    @Percival

    EODmom (View Comment):
    The expand it to all the other professions that require specificity, clarity, accuracy and knowledge of how the natural world works. And think of all those who fought for that knowledge.

    Note to self: avoid using suspension bridges and aircraft designed after 2020.

    • #41
  12. DrewInWisconsin, Oik Member
    DrewInWisconsin, Oik
    @DrewInWisconsin

    RufusRJones (View Comment):

     

     

     

    Why are these tweets “age-restricted”?

    • #42
  13. RufusRJones Member
    RufusRJones
    @RufusRJones

    She gets owned in this one. lol

     

     

     

    • #43
  14. tigerlily Member
    tigerlily
    @tigerlily

    DrewInWisconsin, Oik (View Comment):

    Miffed White Male (View Comment):

    I comfort myself with the fact that in a few years the malpractice lawsuits against doctors who “treated” these people are going to be massive.

     

    I sure hope so.

    I’m sure these will be forthcoming and it can’t happen soon enough.

    • #44
  15. Hoyacon Member
    Hoyacon
    @Hoyacon

    tigerlily (View Comment):

    DrewInWisconsin, Oik (View Comment):

    Miffed White Male (View Comment):

    I comfort myself with the fact that in a few years the malpractice lawsuits against doctors who “treated” these people are going to be massive.

     

    I sure hope so.

    I’m sure these will be forthcoming and it can’t happen soon enough.

    There may be some costs in defending them, but, if patients received what they sought, I don’t see much success unless the operation was botched.

    • #45
  16. Jim McConnell Member
    Jim McConnell
    @JimMcConnell

    I have never understood this “assigned at birth” thing. Is there someone standing there in the birthing room of the hospital, like a Nazi official at a concentration camp, saying to the newborn, “You are a male,” or, “You are a female?” Isn’t basic biology involved in the process somewhere? I never considered it an arbitrary decision by some official what my two daughters were when they were born.

    Maybe I’m just getting too old.

    edit: corrected typo.

    • #46
  17. Metalheaddoc Member
    Metalheaddoc
    @Metalheaddoc

    You know the correct answer for the test, the RightThink answer, so select it and get credit and move on. Then do your doctoring as you think is best.

    It reminds me of a cultural competency CME I had to do. I didn’t read the text, I just went to the questions. The old white male doctor was always wrong and the young immigrant physician of color was always right. I answered the questions on that basis. I passed. 

    • #47
  18. Metalheaddoc Member
    Metalheaddoc
    @Metalheaddoc

    I’m curious. Does a similar thought process happen with other mental disorders?

    What if the question is about a teenage girl with anorxia nervosa and body dysmorphia? Is one of the answers to “affirm that the patient is indeed a fat disgusting pig and no boy (or girl) would touch her. Encourage starvation and over-exercising until the patient feels thin enough.”? You’re not supposed to treat the mind anymore? Just mutilate the body irreversibly until it comports with the diseased mind?  

    • #48
  19. RufusRJones Member
    RufusRJones
    @RufusRJones

    Metalheaddoc (View Comment):

    I’m curious. Does a similar thought process happen with other mental disorders?

    What if the question is about a teenage girl with anorxia nervosa and body dysmorphia? Is one of the answers to “affirm that the patient is indeed a fat disgusting pig and no boy (or girl) would touch her. Encourage starvation and over-exercising until the patient feels thin enough.”? You’re not supposed to treat the mind anymore? Just mutilate the body irreversibly until it comports with the diseased mind?

    He talks about it in those videos I posted. I think it was the second video. He basically says what you are saying.

    • #49
  20. Saint Augustine Member
    Saint Augustine
    @SaintAugustine

    Dr. Bastiat:

    They list “Peer Responses”, and 40% of physicians chose the correct answer.  Probably because it’s obviously correct, and they’re trying to pass a test.  I like to think that they wouldn’t actually do that to an actual child, but of course I don’t know.

    G-d bless the 60% who got the actual correct answers.

    • #50
  21. Dr. Bastiat Member
    Dr. Bastiat
    @drbastiat

    Metalheaddoc (View Comment):
    What if the question is about a teenage girl with anorxia nervosa and body dysmorphia? Is one of the answers to “affirm that the patient is indeed a fat disgusting pig and no boy (or girl) would touch her. Encourage starvation and over-exercising until the patient feels thin enough.”? You’re not supposed to treat the mind anymore? Just mutilate the body irreversibly until it comports with the diseased mind?  

    Perfect analogy. 

    • #51
  22. Dr. Bastiat Member
    Dr. Bastiat
    @drbastiat

    As I said, I’m hesitant to make this public, because it’s a test and I gave the answer.

    Several of you have reached out to me, asking to get it on the main feed.  But I’m not sure.

    So I sent Jon Gabriel a private message, asking for advice.  I’ll let you know what he suggests.

    Thanks for your interest.  Or your morbid fascination.  Whichever. 

    • #52
  23. Flicker Coolidge
    Flicker
    @Flicker

    RufusRJones (View Comment):

    Flicker (View Comment):
    But if they are suffering, what are they suffering? Having the wrong or undesired, chromosomes? And who’s right, the chromosomes, or your feelings of what chromosomes that created you? What’s the treatment for that?

    Dennis Prager has a psychiatrist on his show regularly. People genuinely get this problem. They feel like hell, and they have felt like hell for a long time. I will leave it to smarter people than me to come up with a solution.

    Flicker (View Comment):
    No, if this is an ailment, this is a social ailment, one of fitting into a culture, and not physical or biological one.

    They don’t identify with the body they are in. I wouldn’t describe it as social, necessarily. It probably is when all of the Stalinist, communist teachers are engendering it in children.

    Flicker (View Comment):
    And if there is something actually wrong with the individual, cosmetics won’t change it.

    I have no idea of how to solve this problem. All I know is gender dysphoria has been around for a long time.

    Flicker (View Comment):

    Neither will redefining the terminology.

    I don’t know what you mean. Gender dysphoria has been a genuine diagnosis for a long time, but again I don’t know what you are saying.

    Gender dysphoria is like islamophobia, it’s a made-up term and it’s about appearances and perceptions, not disease processes; no one dies of this dysphoria, if they commit suicide it’s about something else, not thay are trapped in the wrong body.  And gender is a linguistic term that does not refer to sex except jokingly, per the OED.  It may be in modern dictionaries, especially on-line ones, but this is what I mean by redefining words.

    And I just can’t believe that “suffering” is the appropriate word for any of this, even for those who genuinely have a long-standing morphological dysphoria.

    • #53
  24. Full Size Tabby Member
    Full Size Tabby
    @FullSizeTabby

    And the medical establishment wonders why  public confidence in medical doctors and medical “science” is declining? 

    • #54
  25. The Reticulator Member
    The Reticulator
    @TheReticulator

    DrewInWisconsin, Oik (View Comment):

    Miffed White Male (View Comment):

    I comfort myself with the fact that in a few years the malpractice lawsuits against doctors who “treated” these people are going to be massive.

     

    I sure hope so.

    But I was just following orders! 

    • #55
  26. RufusRJones Member
    RufusRJones
    @RufusRJones

    Flicker (View Comment):

    RufusRJones (View Comment):

    Flicker (View Comment):
    But if they are suffering, what are they suffering? Having the wrong or undesired, chromosomes? And who’s right, the chromosomes, or your feelings of what chromosomes that created you? What’s the treatment for that?

    Dennis Prager has a psychiatrist on his show regularly. People genuinely get this problem. They feel like hell, and they have felt like hell for a long time. I will leave it to smarter people than me to come up with a solution.

    Flicker (View Comment):
    No, if this is an ailment, this is a social ailment, one of fitting into a culture, and not physical or biological one.

    They don’t identify with the body they are in. I wouldn’t describe it as social, necessarily. It probably is when all of the Stalinist, communist teachers are engendering it in children.

    Flicker (View Comment):
    And if there is something actually wrong with the individual, cosmetics won’t change it.

    I have no idea of how to solve this problem. All I know is gender dysphoria has been around for a long time.

    Flicker (View Comment):

    Neither will redefining the terminology.

    I don’t know what you mean. Gender dysphoria has been a genuine diagnosis for a long time, but again I don’t know what you are saying.

    Gender dysphoria is like islamophobia, it’s a made-up term and it’s about appearances and perceptions, not disease processes; no one dies of this dysphoria, if they commit suicide it’s about something else, not thay are trapped in the wrong body. And gender is a linguistic term that does not refer to sex except jokingly, per the OED. It may be in modern dictionaries, especially on-line ones, but this is what I mean by redefining words.

    And I just can’t believe that “suffering” is the appropriate word for any of this, even for those who genuinely have a long-standing morphological dysphoria.

    ***If it’s not in the DSM, then so be it.*** To be clear I don’t know what the right term is. The psychiatrist I heard on Dennis Prager said if you’ve really got it you are suffering.

    Now I have a question. Can you suffer from anything in the DSM? Anxiety or depression?

    • #56
  27. Flicker Coolidge
    Flicker
    @Flicker

    Flicker (View Comment):

    Gender dysphoria is like islamophobia, it’s a made-up term and it’s about appearances and perceptions, not disease processes; no one dies of this dysphoria, if they commit suicide it’s about something else, not thay are trapped in the wrong body.  And gender is a linguistic term that does not refer to sex except jokingly, per the OED.  It may be in modern dictionaries, especially on-line ones, but this is what I mean by redefining words.

    And I just can’t believe that “suffering” is the appropriate word for any of this, even for those who genuinely have a long-standing morphological dysphoria.

    And, it’s a social problem, not a biological or medical problem.  No one with this dysphoria would have his (or her) life altered in any way if he was living alone on a desert island.  There would be no negative sequelae.

    • #57
  28. EODmom Coolidge
    EODmom
    @EODmom

    Dr. Bastiat (View Comment):

    As I said, I’m hesitant to make this public, because it’s a test and I gave the answer.

    Several of you have reached out to me, asking to get it on the main feed. But I’m not sure.

    So I sent Jon Gabriel a private message, asking for advice. I’ll let you know what he suggests.

    Thanks for your interest. Or your morbid fascination. Whichever.

    Nope. Leave it where it is. Response was meant to confirm and reassure as you look ahead to your profession. 

    • #58
  29. Blondie Thatcher
    Blondie
    @Blondie

    EODmom (View Comment):

    This is why I tell my friends “Don’t get sick.”

    As my dad says, “Welcome to Obamacare”. It’s bad enough the docs hands are tied with what they can prescribe. Now you’ve got to tow the latest “woke” line, too. Patient be damned. I’ve been sick for 2 weeks. Before COVID, my doc would have given me a steroid pack and an antibiotic already. Now, he can only tell me to drink lots of hot tea and eat chicken soup. Home of the free my arse. 

    • #59
  30. RufusRJones Member
    RufusRJones
    @RufusRJones

    Flicker (View Comment):

    Flicker (View Comment):

    Gender dysphoria is like islamophobia, it’s a made-up term and it’s about appearances and perceptions, not disease processes; no one dies of this dysphoria, if they commit suicide it’s about something else, not thay are trapped in the wrong body. And gender is a linguistic term that does not refer to sex except jokingly, per the OED. It may be in modern dictionaries, especially on-line ones, but this is what I mean by redefining words.

    And I just can’t believe that “suffering” is the appropriate word for any of this, even for those who genuinely have a long-standing morphological dysphoria.

    And, it’s a social problem, not a biological or medical problem. No one with this dysphoria would have his (or her) life altered in any way if he was living alone on a desert island. There would be no negative sequelae.

    I looked this up a little bit on the Internet. I’m only going by what one psychiatrist said. 

    Some of the definitions say you hate your sex organs etc. 

    I can’t sort this out other than listening to experts.

    • #60
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