Yes, the bar exam requires you to learn much law you'll never use. They are a general test that covers all areas of the law.

Boards are for specific specialties. You don't take a board to be a doctor, you take a board to be a podiatrist, etc.

Personally, I think both exams are about protectionism more than anything else.

Source: have taken a bar exam, have a wife that's a doctor.

It's the same in land surveying with the LPS licensing exams.