Advice wanted - when to take test?

[Iwy Em Hotep]

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So here's the deal -

I was ready and supposed to take the exam today. Unfortunately, there was an accident at the testing site and they called us last night to tell us that we couldn't come. We're supposed to wait for 48 hours for them to call us (we can't call them) before we're allowed to reschedule. Being one of two American medical schools in a 1000 mile radius doesn't help in terms of location either.

It is likely that the rescheduled date will be during clerkships. So my question is - do I try to take it as early as possible, or schedule it right after my six week (surgery...) rotation?

<-- not a happy camper

 

[xjacob]

Oi, this sounds like a nightmare to me! Def. sorry to hear that.
Can't they do some exception in your case? I mean, I understand the 48 hr period, if someone decides they need more time, but this is not your fault. Let them solve it for you (I would probably be calling the prometric central office, asking them to tell me what to do). I'd even go as far as asking them to buy me an airticket to the nearest city with a prometric center (ok, this might be going a little too far, but I'd probably be blinded with anger & frustration at that point).
Anyway, I can def. tell you to try really hard NOT to take it in 6 weeks. Most people forget a lot in that time, and unless you are one of those lucky savants that remember stuff forever, you are bound to forget. I am not in my 3rd year yet, but from what I hear, surgery rotations (regardless of hospital/school) tend not to be exactly yielding to long hours of studying for subjects other than surgery. If you are on a 6am-6pm shift, Saturday included, presenting every morning, reading in the evening etc., you will not have much time.
Of course, if you feel unprepared right now and think you need extra time, then 6 weeks might help...that's for you to judge.

 

[Iwy Em Hotep]

I'm probably as ready as I'll ever be. I'm mid-70s on random Qbank blocks, have done all the NBMEs, finished Robbins Qs, etc.

My school is working on something, but we students are just sitting back and waiting. Calling Prometric won't help, since they can't transfer our information to another city without our testing information (which is - ha - at the testing location where the accident occurred). Believe me, we tried. Calls to Portland were made this morning.

The only other option that I have is to request a change in my clerkship schedule so that I take my elective period first. Currently, I have it last, where I want it, and I really don't want to have to change it. On the other hand, if the only other recourse is to take Step 1 on a random day during my rotation...

 

[RustNeverSleeps]

I'm probably as ready as I'll ever be. I'm mid-70s on random Qbank blocks, have done all the NBMEs, finished Robbins Qs, etc.

My school is working on something, but we students are just sitting back and waiting. Calling Prometric won't help, since they can't transfer our information to another city without our testing information (which is - ha - at the testing location where the accident occurred). Believe me, we tried. Calls to Portland were made this morning.

The only other option that I have is to request a change in my clerkship schedule so that I take my elective period first. Currently, I have it last, where I want it, and I really don't want to have to change it. On the other hand, if the only other recourse is to take Step 1 on a random day during my rotation...

I don't really understand this. What kind of accident was this? Also, doesn't the national Prometric office or whatever have your testing information? I have a hard time believing that all this information is just in one place, and irreplacable if something happens to the facility. If so, that is ridiculous, and I hope the NBME would do something about it -- however, since they are useless when it comes to helping students, I wouldn't expect it from them. 🙁

In addition, if you are in Seattle, why would you have to go to Portland? I have several centers relatively nearby my much smaller city -- is there no other Prometric center closer than Portland?

This really sucks -- sorry it had to happen. I would have wanted to kill someone if that happened to me, because I was so ready to get the test over with, and not being able to call them would have really annoyed me. I hope everything works out!

 

[Iwy Em Hotep]

Update -

I finally managed to get through to Prometric to have them release my information so that I could reschedule. Today was spent checking the Prometric page every 5 minutes and calling them whenever the website gave me errors.

Eventually, I managed to schedule a test for the first day of my rotation, even though I have to drive 4.5 hours to get to the testing location. And I'm really lucky that I got it too. Everything is okay, as long as I can stay motivated and not forget stuff in the next 5 days.