An article in the September 5 issue announced that the American Board of Psychiatry and Neurology (ABPN) is phasing out the oral exam portion of the boards. Instead, the ABPN intends to substitute a computerized test. This is being done because the current oral boards are failing too many good psychiatrists and are complicated, expensive events to coordinate.

Good riddance. It is not like psychiatrists actually need to develop rapport with their patients anymore. In this high-tech era, we just need to have a good Internet service provider, broadband access with a wide pipe, and adequate encryption—and heck, we are in business. Patients can IM, twitter, and e-mail us, and our day is filled. Face-to-face therapy is of a bygone era; testing for a minimal degree of competency in it is unneeded and inconvenient. Rather, a computerized test will be a terrific substitution—sort of like an elaborate You-Tube video.