Chapter 4: The Medical License Exam

"None of you looks very well." Finnley didn't wait for the chief examiner. He jumped in first. With that single sentence, the room went still. Five examiners stared, nonplussed.  The timekeeper and the proctor gaped as well.  After years of proctoring the medical license exam, it was the first time a candidate had spoken before any examiner could.  And telling the examiners that something was wrong with their bodies was humiliating. Finnley reacted without a moment's hesitation.  He raised his right hand and pointed at the middle-aged man on the far right.  "Your complexion looks dull, which suggests poor blood flow to the head. Your breathing is shallow and quick, and the muscles on the left side of your neck are tight, while the right side is lax." He pointed to the second examiner on the right.  "Your complexion looks sallow and dull, which indicates a weak spleen and stomach."  His gaze dropped to the hands on the desk.  "You have a cross-shaped mark below the start of the life line, and multiple short lines cutting across the start of the life line." "Between the heart line and head line under the middle finger, and below the start of the life line, there are red and white spots. All of those points point to chronic gastritis." Body Diagnosis? Palm Diagnosis? The five examiners finally caught up, astonishment brightening their eyes.  They could understand Finnley showing off by doing Body Diagnosis out of turn.  They hadn't expected him to know Palm Diagnosis as well, and to use it so effortlessly.  Palm Diagnosis is a type of Body Diagnosis, but few people practice it anymore. Was he right? The chief examiner, Xavier, a neatly groomed man in his sixties with silvered hair, along with the other three, turned to the second examiner.  The man knew what they wanted to ask and nodded in response.  Finnley's Palm Diagnosis was spot-on. Four sets of eyes sharpened and shifted to the first middle-aged examiner.  He nodded too. A surreal feeling washed over the five examiners.  Finnley looked twenty-five at most, and his Body Diagnosis had already reached a high level. Finnley had not finished. He pointed straight at Xavier.  "Your lips and nail beds are pale, which means your heart and blood are deficient. The caruncle at the inner corner of your eye corresponds to the heart. It looks pale, which again suggests deficient blood, accompanied by insomnia." Xavier, who had been leaning back, stiffened and met Finnley's eyes.  The others needed no further hint. Finnley had used the Eye Diagnosis. Even fewer people know Eye Diagnosis. Finnley went on, indicating the fourth examiner, a middle-aged woman.  "You look drained, short of breath, with a grayish cast to your face, which signals a depleted kidney." "The capillaries in your ears are prominent. Your uterus shows dips and bumps." "Dark red wrinkles are visible in the kidney and endocrine zones. That points to perimenopausal syndrome." Finnley had used the Ear Diagnosis. Finally, he scrutinized the fifth examiner.  His eyes narrowed, a ribbon of gold light sliding through his gaze.  "There's a faint white glow around your lungs, which suggests a hidden pulmonary issue." He had not finished.  All five examiners snapped ramrod straight, their eyes locked on Finnley, unable to believe what they had just heard. "A white glow?" "Can you do the legendary Aura Diagnosis Technique?" The Aura Diagnosis Technique existed only in legend. No one actually practiced it. Yet Finnley did. Xavier and the other three urgently glanced at the fifth examiner.  The man stared at Finnley, stunned. Under their scrutiny, he gave a slow nod. With that small nod, the room went dead quiet. Five pairs of eyes widened in shock.  Finnley really could do the Aura Diagnosis Technique. Others might not grasp what Finnley had just put on display, but as practitioners of traditional medicine, they knew all too well.  It was dazzling. Finnley had mastered all the Body Diagnoses, and his analysis was uncannily precise. Finnley had spotted their issues the moment he walked in.  Achieving that was beyond ordinary physicians.  None of the five examiners could do that. Not even Xavier, who was renowned across the state in traditional medicine. "Where did you learn all this?" Xavier came back to himself.  He pushed his reading glasses up the bridge of his nose, still riding the aftershocks of Finnley's performance, and asked without thinking. The question hung in the air.  He froze the moment it left his mouth, and so did the others.  According to the rules, there was no Q&A section in this exam.  Yet after what Finnley had just done, no one felt it was out of place that the chief examiner asked. "Self-taught," Finnley replied. "Self-taught? Impossible." Xavier brushed aside the absurdity of that answer and looked to the other four examiners. The four looked back at Xavier with wry smiles. Finnley had performed five kinds of Body Diagnosis.  Few in the field could perform even four.  With what they had seen, failing him would be hard to justify. Seeing their faces, Xavier pondered for a breath and addressed Finnley in a grave tone.  "The exam hasn't formally begun. Candidates should not speak first. We'll let it slide this time. Don't do it again." The timekeeper and the proctor turned toward Xavier, startled. A previous candidate lost some points for not offering a greeting upon entry.  Finnley had not only skipped the greeting, but he had stated the examiners' ailments.  Failing him outright would not have been excessive. "Now, I will announce the content of this exam. Do not speak. Listen carefully."  Xavier's voice settled back into authority.  "The re-application exam for the medical license consists of two parts. The first is Body Diagnosis. The second is analysis." "You already performed the first part. However, you did not do it in this case for this exam. We will count it as complete." "Next comes the second part, analysis. Once the case appears on the screen, the exam begins."  Xavier gestured to the timekeeper.  "Pick one at random from the advanced medical test bank." "Advanced medical test? He was done for." The other four examiners eased back in their chairs, a ripple of regret crossing their faces.  It seemed Xavier did not intend to let Finnley pass. If the medical license exam were as challenging as a college thesis presentation, a question from the advanced medical test would be more difficult.  The questions in that bank had all been written by national medical experts and were based on their treatment records.  By using those to test Finnley, the chief examiner was clearly setting him up to fail. The timekeeper snapped out of it, worked the computer, opened the advanced medical test bank, and drew one at random.  The question lit up on the screen to one side. "Matt, male, twenty-eight. "The patient was healthy. Two years ago, he got kicked in the groin, with severe pain in the right testicle, followed by erectile dysfunction. The right testicular pain persisted for more than two years." "The patient had tried medicines without effect. The prescriptions had all focused on warming the kidneys and boosting masculinity. The medication included Viagra, sildenafil, and others. "At present, the patient's face was dull, his gums bluish-purple. He had occasional pain in the lower back and abdomen. Appetite, urination, and bowel movements were normal. His lips and tongue were pale." "Use traditional diagnosis to identify the condition, and prescribe no more than five herbs that will cure the patient within two weeks."