This article is more than 5 years old. Information may no longer be current.

You might be an infectious disease doctor if ...

(a non-validated vocational score)

10. Seeing an outpouring of pus within a 1-foot distance brings you excitement rather than intense nausea;

9. You can spell out two or more non-fermentative gram-negative bacilli backwards;

8. An antibiogram doesn’t look like a multiple choice test;

7. Similar words starting with “cef,” or finishing with “icin” or “itis” evoke different conceptual meanings;

6. Diagnosing “a cold” elicits unanimous reassurance;

5. You respectfully speak of bacteria by quoting them by first and last name;

4. The threshold for washing your hands is lower than the Federal Reserve interest rate;

3. You read the Red Book while waiting for a haircut;

2. Even the dietitian knows your beeper number;

1. You become annoyed when horrible infections on the television series Lost island are cured with expired oral penicillin.

There are many more clues that reveal the infectious disease side of your daily practice. Please e-mail them to me! I’ll promise they will be ranked and shared.