i have been a hoobiest for a short period of time and enjoy DATY and BBBJ but am always concerned about std's and such.  do the providers that typically advertise on these boards and are popular test themselves regularlly?

I usually ask ladies how often they test. The answers have ranged from monthly to yearly.

Rick is right there is a surprising range of test frequency (frankly the ones who test once a year surprise me) ... one of my favourites (not ALL time but still) tells me she has a relatively thorough STD test nearly every month and she's not even a high-volume girl!

btw, what's a "hoobiest" ?

A hoobiast is someone who really, REALLY loves Russian.