Boards Rumor?

[m326841]

Did anyone hear the rumor about a test center in Ohio letting some of their students take the boards at 9am and then letting them out as soon as they finished when most of the others were suppose to take it at 1pm? If true could these students have told their friends what was on their exam and would it even be the same exact exam? I studied hard for that exam and I am worried that if this is true that something should be done about it so that the rest of us don't get screwed like they did a couple of years ago.

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[Dr_Feelgood]

Did anyone hear the rumor about a test center in Ohio letting some of their students take the boards at 9am and then letting them out as soon as they finished when most of the others were suppose to take it at 1pm? If true could these students have told their friends what was on their exam and would it even be the same exact exam? I studied hard for that exam and I am worried that if this is true that something should be done about it so that the rest of us don't get screwed like they did a couple of years ago.

I would be more worried if I was one of the students let out early not if you are in another city.

 

[m326841]

My worry was with cellphones computers etc and such word could spread fast what was on the exam within certain circles or groups and some would really have a incredibly unfair advantage regardless of testing site since their friend could have called them from another place and told them what was on it while most others had to do it like it was suppose to. Ughhh.

 

[PMSIII]

Did anyone hear the rumor about a test center in Ohio letting some of their students take the boards at 9am and then letting them out as soon as they finished when most of the others were suppose to take it at 1pm? If true could these students have told their friends what was on their exam and would it even be the same exact exam? I studied hard for that exam and I am worried that if this is true that something should be done about it so that the rest of us don't get screwed like they did a couple of years ago.

I took my boards at ohio and yes some people had to take the exam at 9 am due to a lack of spots at the testing center which was entirely the fault of the boards people for not giving us enough spots. Some people had to travel 2 hours out of the city to take this exam.

As for people telling their peers after the boards, I can tell you that this did not happen. No one is stupid enough to risk harming their career by helping someone else cheat.

 

[Dr_Feelgood]

I took my boards at ohio and yes some people had to take the exam at 9 am due to a lack of spots at the testing center which was entirely the fault of the boards people for not giving us enough spots. Some people had to travel 2 hours out of the city to take this exam.

As for people telling their peers after the boards, I can tell you that this did not happen. No one is stupid enough to risk harming their career by helping someone else cheat.

From the sound of it, the NBPME really screwed up when reserving spots. Heck one of the DMU students had to go to SF to take it.

 

[gustydoc]

No one is stupid enough to risk harming their career by helping someone else cheat.

I would go so far as to say that! It makes me nervous that everyone at Ohio didn't take the exam at the same time given the cheating scandal a few years ago. Ohio has a history with the boards. Okay that was a low blow I admit it, but it had to say it. If you don't know what I am talking about ask a student who took boards 3-4 years ago. Wow, was that a mess.

 

[Feli]

We had some people (only a few who were last to register) take it here in Miami area at 9am EST also. In order to prevent any problems, student(s) from our school went to the dean the week before to make sure he was aware, the NBPME was contacted as well as the council of deans. It was understood that some schools had early and late test times but that the early test takers would all be kept in the test center without access to their cell phones, PDAs, or laptop until 1pm to ensure that no assistance could be provided to later test takers.

I think the Miami area 9am takers were released and got their cell phones back around 12:30pm. No help was given to later test takers because they were all inside the test center by 12:30 to register for their 1pm exam by that time. I'm pretty sure that the early and late exam versions were identical from talking to fellow students, but, to my understanding, nobody here could've exchanged info because the early takers were not released until later takers were already in the exam centers.

I started the exam at 12:32pm and was done at 1:38. I sure hope some people who took the exam at 9am didn't get out and get their phone back as soon as they were finished because that could obviously cause major problems. I can say that Prometric held up their end of the deal down here by keeping the early takers until at least 12:30pm...

I'll be a quite upset if scores are voided due to a testing center mistake.
I'm almost sure I passed it fair and square and would like to just focus on clinics and clerkship apps...

The electronic testing idea is definitely the way of the future and certainly simplifies scoring, but, if they don't have multiple versions of the exam and release early takers, it just won't work. I say just keep it scantron and sit all of the students at each school together in one big lecture hall with many proctors and start it at a uniform time across the nation for all 8 testing groups. That is the only fair way to do it until enough electronic test center seats are available for all students to test simultaneously across the nation.

 

[bex83]

Well, I know for sure that students in illinois were able to take it at 8am and were let out before the students arrived/went into the exam. I think it's pretty ridiculous.

ALSO, at my testing site, we were told by the proctors that we could skip questions and go back at the end and review them...obviously this wasn't the case and me & a group of my classmates got bigtime screwed...as in, we skipped quite a few questions and never got to answer them.

The whole experience was pretty unorganized and horrible.

 

[Feli]

...ALSO, at my testing site, we were told by the proctors that we could skip questions and go back at the end and review them...obviously this wasn't the case and me & a group of my classmates got bigtime screwed...as in, we skipped quite a few questions and never got to answer them...

I'm sure that's lame, but if your test was like mine, the on-screen instructions and pre-test tutorial told you clearly that you would not be able to go back. There was only a "next" button and no "back" button.

Dang, if OH and IL both got their early test takers released early and hours before the later test takers entered their test centers, I'm pretty sure we'll all be retaking this in October or next year. If so, it better be free of charge next time

 

[bex83]

it was more than lame, and the people in my group are definitely fighting against what happened.

To be fair, the tutorial said once you ANSWERED a question you could not go back and review...the proctors told us that if we did not answer the question there would be a review button at the end and we could see a "list of our skipped questions" and go back and answer them. Honestly, they just made up a bunch of stuff. We were completely misled.

sorry if i sound rude...it was just a really bad experience.

 

[jonwill]

Classic

 

[whiskers]

My history professor once said that history repeats itself. I wish I would have asked him if it took generations or if a few years would suffice.

These exams are used for state licensure, surely no legitimate state (and their state medical board) in the United States is going to accept this method of verification of a candidates academic abilities and competencies if what is being said is true.

The most important question in my mind is, are there any lawyers frothing at the mouth yet?

This is very disturbing to say the least.

 

[gustydoc]

Do we really need a better reason to move to the USMLE? Everyone agrees that we have issues with our boards every year and in the same breath they wonder why we have problems with parity and respect from our DO/MD colleagues. If there is going to be a change it will have to come from the bottom up and the students will have to lead the charge. The MCAT should be the sole admissions test for podiatric medical school and we should take the same medical boards that other physicians take. It really is that simple, but the students will have to initiate the change. I'm sick of the the "its the way we have always done it so why change now" attitude. We can either strive to improve the standards to which we hold ourselves or we wallow in mediocrity and self pity.

 

[Feli]

Do we really need a better reason to move to the USMLE? Everyone agrees that we have issues with our boards every year and in the same breath they wonder why we have problems with parity and respect from our DO/MD colleagues. If there is going to be a change it will have to come from the bottom up and the students will have to lead the charge. The MCAT should be the sole admissions test for podiatric medical school and we should take the same medical boards that other physicians take. It really is that simple, but the students will have to initiate the change. I'm sick of the the "its the way we have always done it so why change now" attitude. We can either strive to improve the standards to which we hold ourselves or we wallow in mediocrity and self pity.

I agree with you that pods need to take and pass the USMLE or a very similar test if they want true parity, but it's easier for you to say because you've already passed your boards and would be grandfathered in while newer students would suddenly have to take a MUCH harder board exam. Kaplan QBank and the USMLE practice questions in my Lippincott books are darn hard for me, and their having 5+ answer choices (and all are pretty good sounding choices) makes them inherently much harder questions than ones like the NBPME with only 4 options. Even DO students don't pass the USMLE real consistently, and their schools' admission standards are generally more stringent than pod schools.

While I think pod students could probably (hopefully?) dominate on the musculoskeletal and endocrine USMLE sections, most students, particularly at some non-integrated schools with more relaxed admissions standards, might be pretty far behind in many other areas that are highly tested on USMLE (neuro, hematology, etc). Would podiatry be willing to deal with an extremely low pass rate on the USMLE for the first few years until all of the schools upped their curriculum and admissions standards to meet the demand? Those are tough questions to answer...

I think that, if I studied about twice as hard as I studied for pod boards these past few months, I could probably pass the USMLE (not do well, but probably pass), but, then again, I'm one cocky SOB when it comes to taking tests and might fail the USMLE by a mile (or even have failed NBPME yesterday?) for all I know

 

[PMSIII]

I would go so far as to say that! It makes me nervous that everyone at Ohio didn't take the exam at the same time given the cheating scandal a few years ago. Ohio has a history with the boards. Okay that was a low blow I admit it, but it had to say it. If you don't know what I am talking about ask a student who took boards 3-4 years ago. Wow, was that a mess.

It wasn't just done at Ohio. People at other schools had to the exam the morning of. As for the "scandal", Ohio was ONE of the schools included - as in other schools were involved, and last time I checked this thing was setled in court, and guess what? The students won. So please don't label us as cheaters. Thank you.

 

[gustydoc]

It wasn't just done at Ohio. People at other schools had to the exam the morning of. As for the "scandal", Ohio was ONE of the schools included - as in other schools were involved, and last time I checked this thing was setled in court, and guess what? The students won. So please don't label us as cheaters. Thank you.

What, no sense of humor? I realize that a couple of other schools were involved, but lets not pretend that there wasn't a clear ethical conflict with what happened. I was being facetious in my statements about my concern over the current students. I don't believe anything unethical occurred this year... unless you include the fact that the NBPME charges 900 bucks for the test.

 

[OSUDDS]

is this a short test? how much can someone learn before 1pm from another person who took the exam at 9am? if the boards are so easy that a person can learn enough to pass between 9am and 1pm i dont see what the big deal is.

 

[PMSIII]

... unless you include the fact that the NBPME charges 900 bucks for the test.

LOL agreed

 

[brizant]

On the NBPME website, a couple months back, they auditted their test in comparison to the USMLE, etc. How does this relate to your experiences?
http://www.nbpme.com/News.html#Validity

 

[Dr_Feelgood]

It wasn't just done at Ohio. People at other schools had to the exam the morning of. As for the "scandal", Ohio was ONE of the schools included - as in other schools were involved, and last time I checked this thing was setled in court, and guess what? The students won. So please don't label us as cheaters. Thank you.

No one labeled you as a cheater, but those students cheated. Just b/c it was settled in court doesn't mean a thing; OJ is innocent right?

I have heard more horror stories this year. I student had the same problem where he read once you ANSWER the question you cannot go back so he missed a few questions b/c he never answered them. A few of the DMU students also had to take the test at 8:00 but they had to drive up to Ames to take it. Another student had to take he test at 3:30, she was scheduled for the regular time but they could not log her on to any computer. So the site called the proctor company (Thomas-whatever) and guess what, no one was home. They told her that she might just have to take it the next date, and I guess she was not happy (The location didn't know that it was not until October). Luckily, they finally got it to work but she didn't get done until 5:30.

If anyone doesn't pass this test b/c they didn't answer a few ?s, I would be in the NBPME's rear. The people who failed are the administrators of this nightmare.

 

[Feli]

A classmate and I were discussing actual probability of whether or not info was exchanged between early test takers who were released and 1pm EST test takers. Our conclusion was that it probably occured a bit, but not to any great extent. I think the scores might stand; it's not like years past where different schools were taking the exam on different days and sharing questions was totally rampant. In reality, your brain is so fried when you get out of the exam, and even good students weren't positive they knew the right answer to 20-50% of those questions. Supposing some of the quicker 9am EST test takers this year got out at 10 or 11am EST, they only had an hour or two to grab their pharm/micro/path notes, look up the hard questions, and pass them on to later test takers (who had been instructed to be in their test centers by 12:30pm EST at the latest and probably on the road by noon). Also, the good students who took the exam early and likely passed probably wouldn't take the risk of unethically passing questions/answers along to buddies taking it later. Besides, nobody knew at the time if the early and late testing times would have the same exact questions or not.

...If anyone doesn't pass this test b/c they didn't answer a few ?s, I would be in the NBPME's rear...

I agree, though.^

If even a single early test taker passed info along, that screws up a scaled exam to some degree. When you also consider that some test takers were incorrectly instructed by staff or misread the directions and consequently thought that they could go back to questions at the end, it's pretty sketchy. Assuming the scores aren't invalidated, I think anyone who fails but is rated 70+ has a legit argument for a free retest at the least...