@kartwk, that’s just a part of the Mini Mental Evaluation. Do you think that doctor is familiar with doing the exams and diagnosing dementia? Also, there are some conditions in which short term memory loss is not a symptom in the early stages, such as with Frontal lobe. In that, memory loss comes later.
https://www.mayoclinic.org/diseases-conditions/frontotemporal-dementia/symptoms-causes/syc-20354737