Hey Tyson,
I've been to a number of different doctors for my medical and there's definitely a wide spectrum of personalities and methods out there. I've also had the "whisper from across the room" hearing test, and other times I've put the headphones on to listen for beeps. The eye tests have been pretty varied as well. Having gone through a military aviation medical (which makes you feel like a lab rat!), the civilian 1st class medicals are a breeze.
If you woud consider yourself a pretty healthy person and don't know of anything that you should have let the Dr know about, I'd say you're just fine. Keep in mind that a 65 year old has to pass the same medical to fly, so it's stringent, but not overly so. A first class medical is what you need, and if that's printed on the paper, then you're there. I'm in fairly decent shape, run and ride a lot, and don't smoke, so many of my medicals are more of a chat with the Dr than anything else (and a bunch of paperwork, and parting with $80-$100+
)
And you'll also find many of the AMEs do fly on the side and love to talk about it, so I'm not too surprised about the article he posted. It may just be a good ice breaker for some of his patients.
As for getting started, it sounds like you're moving along quickly! Let me know how I can help along the way. Also, Mark Menendez in this forum is posting almost daily on his progress and experiences at ATP on his blogsite
http://clearedinbound.blogspot.com He's several weeks into the program, so it may give you one person's perspective on the process. If you have the time to prep beforehand (which it sounds like you will) there's lots of material that you can cover to make the program go as smoothly as possible. Stay in touch.