APMLE Debacle

[APMLEHATER]

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If you're a prospective pod student, I'd suggest staying away. Today was the APMLE Boards part 1, and oh boy was it a clown show. This was the first year NBPME contracted Meazure to proctor the exam, and it was a wild ride. Some students had to wait 1.5 hours to be let into their exams and were stressing that it would be canceled. The exam was deemed too difficult by some of the brightest students in my class. And a decent amount of students were unexpectedly given 150 questions while others were given the normal 205 question test. In both cases, test takers were given four hours to finish the test. For those that don't know, they supposedly toss out 50 questions out of the 205. Now, those who had 150 questions are worried that the curve could screw them. Those who had 205 are upset that the time per question was unfair. Meazure customer service reps told worried students that it was all fine, "experimental questions" were being tossed anyway, and everyone would be graded equally. This is supposed to be a standardized exam. How can they claim it's a standardized exam when there is such a great discrepancy in questions given and time per question provided? Regardless of how you view the situation, it is a debacle of the highest order and a blemish on the field as a whole. Some of us are still waiting to hear from our deans despite the fact that the issue was raised nearly 12 hours ago. And the cherry on top, this exam is nearly $1,000. It will cost another $1000 if we fail. I had long believed that podiatry was a growing field that was gaining respect, but today set the industry back. How can we gain respect when they mess up a licensing exam to this degree? This is supposed to be a competency exam, and now some people are speculating that they will have to pass 100% of students who took the exam. This is likely due to industry greed, as the prior proctor Prometric was fine, but more expensive. If you care about your education and reputation, avoid podiatry.

 

[footshazam]

I second the avoid podiatry sentiment. Prospective students please look into other fields! If the MCAT is holding you back, keep at it. Don’t settle for the garbage that is podiatry. You have been warned!

 

[deleted1134196]

Not sure if the OP is the right thing to post here...but I couldn't agree more, and having taken the board exam last year, its hard to fathom your pain. I agree transparency is key (could be an entire other thread about the field itself for prospective students) and students need to understand what they are getting in to, but dissuading students to go to podiatric medical school hurts our field more because lower class sizes = higher costs of education, accreditation issues, etc. Could it make the field more selective? Perhaps. But if application pools get smaller with more subpar candidates, its a never ending cycle.

This is absolutely a space to air grievances with the exam itself, but to tie it into a message to tell students that one experience should make or break their pursuit of podiatric medical school is another.

Additionally, we will be met with many obstacles in our career, perseverance and grit is key, can't go running when things get hard. I get this is a crucial exam for our careers as podiatric physicians, but it is the first of many and should not be the deal breaker. Life sucks man, and stuff happens. Just have to keep on keepin on. Trust me, I have shared similar sentiments in the past early in my time in school, but I have grown to realize that I love the field, even with the astounding BS that we put up with. I am no stranger to saying things that I should not have said, and doing things that I should not have done, so trust me, I am far from being not-guilty. Again, I feel horrible for you and all the other rising third year students who had to deal with this, I just urge caution when making these blanket statements off of one horrendous experience when we will be faced with countless more in our career.

I know I may sound like a "company man" here, but I am 1000% on the side of of my fellow students. Just some food for thought.

Sorry if this message pisses you off, but some people need to hear different things. Just my two cents on the situation.

 

[SpicyFeet]

It's okay, they will keep opening new schools and hopefully the problems will be solved. Joke aside, I am sorry for students who's been through part I this year and hoping every will be fine.

 

[Weirdy]

Sounds like your class is going through a lot, but please keep student related issues to the student thread.
The prepods cannot comprehend the amount of time, energy, and effort you've put into studying for the APMLE only for it to turn out this way.
Many of the prepods who visit this website also peruse the student and resident threads, so your concerns will not fall on deaf ears.

Locking.