Anyone else want to strangle Prometric???

[anxiousnadd]

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So...

I just took Step I last week and I've been trying to figure out the nicest and most effective way to let NBME and Prometric know how much I hate them right now. Here is what happened to me:

1) Computer crashed midway through the 3rd section of the exam and I lost a couple minutes from my exam taking time, aside from the obvious annoyance it caused me
2) The computers had a lag time between EVERY question and thus, I was the one that suffered because the computer deducted time (2-3 seconds per question) due to the lag time
3) I had only 1 audio/visual media type question and it happened to have come as the very last question of the entire exam. So then, to my surprise (or not so much surprised at this point) there was an even greater lag time because the computer had to load the audio/visual file. This lag time was deducted from my total time.

Some of you may tell me to "buck up" and deal with it. But, I'm not the type that sits back and takes it up the you know what just because I'm supposed to be a stupid M-III. I feel that just because Prometric is inadequate and cheap in their equipment, WE should NOT be the ones to be penalized. I'm not sure if anyone else noticed this at their testing sites, but I definitely picked up on this about half way through my 2nd section (with regards to the lag time in between questions).

If anyone else has had similar technical issues, please let me know how/if they went about dealing with it. I'm not looking for a re-take or anything of that nature (God sure knows that the LAST thing I want to do is go through taking step I again). I don't even know if it's going to change anything if I tell anyone, but I feel I should do it.

Thank you if you take the time to let me know.

 

[mrihr]

1) Computer crashed midway through the 3rd section of the exam and I lost a couple minutes from my exam taking time, aside from the obvious annoyance it caused me

that's not fair.. 😡 this repair time shouldn't be deducted from your exam time.. it's annoying..

2) The computers had a lag time between EVERY question and thus, I was the one that suffered because the computer deducted time (2-3 seconds per question) due to the lag time

imagine you had the paper test with all this papers , and stuff, you lost max 2 min per section, and that's maximum more probably around a minute.. i don't see the problem..

firs problem is a real one, but the lag time problem, please... just relax and wait for the results... good luck🙂

 

[Pinkertinkle]

So...

I just took Step I last week and I've been trying to figure out the nicest and most effective way to let NBME and Prometric know how much I hate them right now. Here is what happened to me:

1) Computer crashed midway through the 3rd section of the exam and I lost a couple minutes from my exam taking time, aside from the obvious annoyance it caused me
2) The computers had a lag time between EVERY question and thus, I was the one that suffered because the computer deducted time (2-3 seconds per question) due to the lag time
3) I had only 1 audio/visual media type question and it happened to have come as the very last question of the entire exam. So then, to my surprise (or not so much surprised at this point) there was an even greater lag time because the computer had to load the audio/visual file. This lag time was deducted from my total time.

Some of you may tell me to "buck up" and deal with it. But, I'm not the type that sits back and takes it up the you know what just because I'm supposed to be a stupid M-III. I feel that just because Prometric is inadequate and cheap in their equipment, WE should NOT be the ones to be penalized. I'm not sure if anyone else noticed this at their testing sites, but I definitely picked up on this about half way through my 2nd section (with regards to the lag time in between questions).

If anyone else has had similar technical issues, please let me know how/if they went about dealing with it. I'm not looking for a re-take or anything of that nature (God sure knows that the LAST thing I want to do is go through taking step I again). I don't even know if it's going to change anything if I tell anyone, but I feel I should do it.

Thank you if you take the time to let me know.

No retake? So what do you want like 15 bonus points for your troubles or something?

 

[UditNarayan]

yea NBME and prometric suck but what do you seriously want? if you want to file a complaint im sure you can do that, but i am not really sure what you want/are asking. seems like ur blowing off some steam and if that helps, i do hope you feel better. unfortunately, after being on this forum for a while, it seems that you are not the only one with complaints/technical difficulties during the exam. i too had a bit of a delay per question, and i even went over my total break time so my last section started without me (yes, my fault), also, my monitor was poorly connected up in the back so everytime i moved it, the monitor would shut off. of course, there are others that had far worse experiences. in the end, if you didnt let these problems affect you during the test (like keeping calm, answering the questions as they come, and finding a way to always finish on time) you will do fine. good luck!

 

[anxiousnadd]

I will refrain from getting into any/all arguments on a venue such as SDN.

The purpose of my post was NOT to get something/anything out of the NBME or Prometric. It was to see if anyone else had similar issues and how they or if they made complaints and to whom. I knew that I would get posts from some med students that were negative towards me. I understand that most med students are Type A and very competitive. Thus, the slightest misunderstanding and feeling that another student is attempting to seek "extra credit" makes some students burn on the inside and resort to unnecessary comments. Understand that my intention is not for personal gain, but rather to eliminate unnecessary added stress/annoyance/unfairness to other students that will take the exam.

If you would like to discuss this on a more personal level, I would encourage you to personally contact me via PM and then I will give you my contact info so that we can discuss this further in a professional manner.

Professionalism is something that should be tested on boards.

Thank you

 

[ZonaRidicularis]

z

 

[Twitch]

I'm suprised no one mentioned the 1990's style 15" (or are they upto 17" now) CRT monitors with the headache inducing low refresh rate.

That's prometric for you and it's been like this for ages. Many have complained, but in the end prometric is there to make money. They've already bought the hardware as languished as it may be - why upgrade a "well functioning" system from the 1990's. 🙄

 

[GMDMD]

I think ppl are being a bit harsh on the OP. Obviously just looking to vent and not looking for a handout.

I definitely understand the frustration. The person next to me halfway during the exam began coughing up her lung. It got to the point where I would anticipate a cough every 6 seconds and couldn't focus on what I was reading. Finally it got so bad that she left the room.

During the break I spent 10 minutes walking around trying to clear the anger from my head. Then I politely complained to the front desk people and they gave me attitude about "well we can't stop her from coughing now can we?" Honestly I wasn't expecting much except for a little sympathy (or perhaps moving her or myself to a private room would have been nice).

I think it's total bull**** that they have a bunch of people taking bull**** finger-painting certification exams they studied 2 hours for the night before taking their tests and making noise and talking out loud while we're taking one of the biggest most important tests on the planet. How about setting aside a private more serious room during May-July step1 season?

I also think it's total bull**** that some software/multimedia geeks trying to make some $$ suckered the idiots and NBME into thinking multimedia questions on Step1 is a good idea. Like there isn't enough stuff to study already, we're supposed to identify heart sounds etc that we've never heard before clinically? They ought to know that adding audio and video will cause unneccessary computer glitches on the ancient crap hardware prometrics uses across the country. I didn't have any problems with this but I can sympathize with the OP and others because I would have flipped out if something like that had happened to me.

 

[Knicks]

whoa whoa whoa whoa!

Some people on this forum need to get off their damn thrones.

What's up with these "so what do you want, 15 extra points?" kinds of posts?! 🙄

Everyone here is taking an exam (Step 1) which carries with it IMMENSE ramifications. It's basically going to determine our futures. We've comitted A LOT of time, money, sweat, tears, etc. during our basic sciences to prepare for this "Grand Equalizer" that is that USMLE Step 1 Exam; and so for these cheap-ass prometric centers' computers to be glitchy is simply NOT TOLERABLE!

I can't beleive some people are just sitting back and passively "accepting" this crap!

 

[peter90036]

well, i understand computer crashes or crappy computers being bull*sh*eet on Prometric's part,
but,
so what if someone is coughing or typing or chatting. please, if you're on a crashing patient with nurses or residents or attending yelling around you and you're trying to shove a central line, then what? you just get angry and throw your hands up because you can't concentrate ?

when its time to focus on such an important task, that's what you gotta do.
tunnel vision, block your sensoria, look at the screen, pick an answer, next question.

 

[GMDMD]

well, i understand computer crashes or crappy computers being bull*sh*eet on Prometric's part,
but,
so what if someone is coughing or typing or chatting. please, if you're on a crashing patient with nurses or residents or attending yelling around you and you're trying to shove a central line, then what? you just get angry and throw your hands up because you can't concentrate ?

when its time to focus on such an important task, that's what you gotta do.
tunnel vision, block your sensoria, look at the screen, pick an answer, next question.

Are you freaking kidding me? I suppose if someone was yelling into your ear you would just shut it out?

Right like taking a clinically irrelevant exam which can arbitrarily affect the next 40+ years of your life is exactly the same as having a patient on the table in front of you. Picking 1/5 multiple choice answers on a computer is exactly like having years of clinical experience and colleagues to draw upon when someone's life is on the line. I'm sure all of those dermatologists with their 260 scores are always super-cool when their pagers start ringing and someone has 10 seconds left to live before their skin cancer swallows them whole.

How about if someone starts kicking you? Or tickling you? Or people having sex in the background? Where do you draw the line? I suppose REAL doc could focus through all of that, cuz that's exactly what Step1 measures.

Please.

 

[GMDMD]

and for the record, mr keep it cool genius who hasn't even gotten his score back yet...

250+

i'm not posting sour grapes because I got a bad score. Though I did run out of time that section and it pissed me the hell off. my point is step1 "cool" does not at all equal big balls in operating room/ER/etc.

I think it's ridiculous and unprofessional to market 'standardized testing conditions' and have people pay so much money to have to still worry about stupid **** on the most nerve-racking day of your life. They're making good money off of us someone should absolutely be yelled at.

 

[peter90036]

" like taking a clinically irrelevant exam which can arbitrarily affect the next 40+ years of your life "

and so your goal is to do what? count how many times the person next to you coughs or pick a friggin answer and get the test over with? puh-lease. there were plenty of coughs and building renovation noises during my tests. no people having sex or other aberrations that you're extrapolating into.

you studied, youre there to take the test, no one is having sex on your face, bar any computer problems, no one will prevent you from getting the damn test over with.

money?... really...? have you seen hospital bills? have you been charged 1000$ for spending total of 1 hour in a derm surg office? no, not the surgery. facility charge.

btw your attitude is wonderful, you'll do just right in cardio or whatever you want to get.

 

[GMDMD]

" like taking a clinically irrelevant exam which can arbitrarily affect the next 40+ years of your life "

and so your goal is to do what? count how many times the person next to you coughs or pick a friggin answer and get the test over with? puh-lease. there were plenty of coughs and building renovation noises during my tests. no people having sex or other aberrations that you're extrapolating into.

you studied, youre there to take the test, no one is having sex on your face, bar any computer problems, no one will prevent you from getting the damn test over with.

money?... really...? have you seen hospital bills? have you been charged 1000$ for spending total of 1 hour in a derm surg office? no, not the surgery. facility charge.

btw your attitude is wonderful, you'll do just right in cardio or whatever you want to get.

Your logic is so absurd I don't even know where to begin.

Yes, I am human and I let her cough get into my head. She was coughing right next to me right 2 feet from my ear. I'm sorry I don't have your nerves of steel. Apparently neither do some of the others around her, because I heard 2 other people farther away swearing under their breath after this was going on for 5+ minutes. I bet they're going to be poor doctors as well.

How the hell are hospital bills relevant to the amount I pay to go to a testing center? Gee the national debt is like trillions of dollars.... I guess I cant complain if someone forces me to spend $50 bucks on a tic-tac?

You know what, I can tell you're going to be an amazing, compassionate doctor. For one thing, you're a multiple choice answering machine.

And who needs empathy anyhow? Why should you ever put yourself in someone's else's shoes and realize that NOT EVERYONE IS A SUPERSTAR ZEN-BUDDHIST STUD LIKE YOU. I'm sure patients will respond well to your "man-up" attitude. If I can lose 50 pounds, stop drinking alcohol, etc it MUST BE just that EASY.

Even better, maybe you should consider a career as a professional quarterback. How hard can it be? You practiced. You're there to play the game. Screw pressure, just put the ball in the receiver's hands that's all there is to it.

🙄

 

[peter90036]

there will be harder and more important situations than taking a 600$ test on a flickering screen and people coughing in the next cubicle.

please dissect my absurd logic, i -as one with no score- certainly have less understanding of logic as those with 250+
so, yes, i would like a lesson.

 

[ZonaRidicularis]

z

 

[ZonaRidicularis]

z

 

[peter90036]

i was refering to events beyond the computer related ones. so yeah, i was serving some dry empathy, oops.

if you're whining now about others coughing during a license exam
how's it going to work when you'll have to deal with all the really absurd & ridiculous crap that will happen in residency and after. crap that will make these tests so small you'll laugh.

(tests not testes)

 

[peter90036]

how about if it was YOU who had to cough?

you'd hold it in, right?

because you care so much not to disturb the people next to you.

👍👍

 

[ZonaRidicularis]

z

 

[peter90036]

its not like there's many 5yo medstudents on these forums, so by this time you'd think some stability and understanding would occur. i'm not telling 5yos about calculus, and in 1-2 years you'll do what?
"ah that mofo mr. Jimbo, i was tryin to palpate his gallbladder, and that sonofabztch wouldnt stay still, he was squirming around like a friggin 200lb fish. so i stabbed him.
then i got the ballbladder thru the incision, and fortunately it did have stones in it. so the stabbing was justified."
-or more realistic?
its not life changing for you, so wtf. Jimbo had enough years anyway, oh i should also mention DNR DNI so he dont wanna live anyway, so let's move him out of the ICU.
or - let mr Jimbo squirm around because he's a sonfabztch, let the other resident do it.

you don't think this sort of attitude is related, then i'm glad for you and that i'm wrong.

yeah there was someone coughing behind me, but i wasnt counting coughs or thinking of kicking her in the gonads because she's sick and trying to take step 3 as a peds resident (not a life changing exam so what does she care if she coughs?). ok if i think hard, i did turn around once, and maybe i thought about something involving serrated knives- how's that, does that make it better?
and for 2-3 blocks the floor above were banging, reparing walls?, i think it was a saturday.
i didnt have earplugs.

yeah i'm nice, because at least here people write in nicer english than g4u tak teh xam it wus herd, harrisonz is the bible of medisine, i make phdee at habard and all i goat waz dis lazy 10grd englsh corse.

 

[ZonaRidicularis]

z

 

[UditNarayan]

Dear OP, I hope you're feeling better now that some time has passed. Reading back thru my post, I am sorry if I was too harsh, it's been a tough week... I hope that everything turns out well in the end and good luck!

 

[FutureInternist]

Someone chronically coughing next to me? I'd want to punch them in the gonads. If I were the one in the test room chronically coughing? I'd feel like a jack@ss and be on the lookout for people trying to kick my face.

Wait....so you get to hit them in the gonads but they can only kick you in the face ?? I think it should be kicks to the gonads for all 😀

 

[Man In White]

Meh .. A great number of test takers have various issues. I had chronic coughers, ridiculous amounts of typing on all sides of me, CRT flicker, and for the last 2 blocks someone decided to park their car beside the wall of our room and blast their bass - ya the useless headphones don't do jack for low frequency filtering, and barely do any filtering for the rest of the spectrum.

This crap is going to happen, and I was annoyed as hell at the time, but I berated them on the survey re: earplugs, and I gather other test takers also complained. Anyhow it looks like it may have helped to institute some change (nbme recently allowed earplugs). So, slowly they'll correct the mistakes and unfortunately we are the guinea pigs at the moment.

None of us here was the first to complain and we won't be the last - no matter how much the system is revised. So, ya, vent here. We've all been through it, and the vast majority of us have gotten over it, and hopefully you will too in time.

 

[ZonaRidicularis]

z