Irregular Behaviour Panic!! Please help

[deeppeer]

Hi All

I took the exam today ABIM board exam at prometric, and during break I took a break and went to a bathroom, because I have sick stomach and I brought my belongings with me from lockers. When I came back the proctor said to me that they have to report the irregular behavior. I swear to god that I did not cheat at all or anything, I brought along my belonging with me during bathroom coz I have something else to finish. Please help what should I do at this point. Proctor said they will report the fact, that I took a break and brought my belongings.

What should I do!!

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[deeppeer]

Also I did not fill any form afterward, they let me complete the exam. What should I do or expect!!!

 

[Gastrapathy]

You'll have to wait and see. But I'd recommend picking one alibi. You took your belongings to the bathroom because you were sick or because you were doing other work, not both. TBH, piling on the excuses (and showing such terrible judgment that you took your belongings to the bathroom to do other work) makes you look guilty. I'd stick with the first story. They might just cancel your test and make you retake. As for what you should do, I have no idea. Calling the ABIM seems reasonable once you've sorted out what you are going to say.

 

[deeppeer]

Thank you very much for your suggestion! I am still VERY PANIC!!! dont know what to do! should I just wait till I hear from them? other comments welcome!!!

 

[tartesos]

Hi All

I took the exam today ABIM board exam at prometric, and during break I took a break and went to a bathroom, because I have sick stomach and I brought my belongings with me from lockers. When I came back the proctor said to me that they have to report the irregular behavior. I swear to god that I did not cheat at all or anything, I brought along my belonging with me during bathroom coz I have something else to finish. Please help what should I do at this point. Proctor said they will report the fact, that I took a break and brought my belongings.

What should I do!!

I took a break on my Pulm board exam this year, and forgot to place my phone on the locker, and no one asked me to going in as they usually do( that would have helped!), as soon as I sat down I noticed it and raised my hand, was escorted out and they told me they had to file and incident report and will review the cameras and such....
It has Happened to some people I've heard of, and it doesn't amount to anything in the end.

It's a stupid mistake, but oh well!

Good luck!

 

[deeppeer]

thank tartesos for you reply, i supposed you passed the test, and any notation about incident at all? or any letter from them? did you have to fill the form for the incidence?

 

[Elseguro]

Has anyone been cited for Irreguular behavior and barred from taking any Usmle Edam for any length of time?????

 

[tartesos]

thank tartesos for you reply, i supposed you passed the test, and any notation about incident at all? or any letter from them? did you have to fill the form for the incidence?

Don't know if passed yet, scores not out.
Didn't have to fill anything, but the lady mentioned that they would fill and incident report s d they would likely review the tapes.
Nothing to worry about. You had a camera on top of you, they will see if you did anything funny.

 

[dozitgetchahi]

Why on earth were you trying to accomplish 'other work' while taking the ABIM exam?

 

[gutonc]

Why on earth were you trying to accomplish 'other work' while taking the ABIM exam?

The "other work" was actually cheating on the test.

 

[gracie369]

OP as your e-counsel you will call the ABIM tomorrow and tell them that the irregular behavior was 2/2 irregular BMs. On the morning of your exam you had a big bowl of refried beans mixed with reheated fried rice. The most likely cause is exam stress but a B. cereus infection can not be r/o! Make sure you leave a message if they are at lunch. You're going to be fine.

 

[aafisahar]

i don't log in to comment much, but this was seriously WTF

okay, i get that you get the runs, w/e, happens to all of us, but on top of that, you take all your stuff with you and your excuse is you had to do some work on one of the most important days of your professional life? you do realize that every single action you take is screaming cheating.

honestly, i hope you get the book thrown at you, if for nothing else other than incredible stupidity.

 

[HelpPleaseMD]

i don't log in to comment much, but this was seriously WTF

okay, i get that you get the runs, w/e, happens to all of us, but on top of that, you take all your stuff with you and your excuse is you had to do some work on one of the most important days of your professional life? you do realize that every single action you take is screaming cheating.

honestly, i hope you get the book thrown at you, if for nothing else other than incredible stupidity.

agreed. its serious lack of common sense. who carries "work" with them when they have the runs... gross.... and during ABIM lol.

 

[dozitgetchahi]

How do people like this get through residency?

Forget all the 'my machivellian PD hates me and I'm going to get thrown out of residency' hysteria we hear around these boards...can we talk about the people who should've been kicked out but weren't?

 

[IMreshopeful]

I'm going to go with the people who say this sounds like the dude was actually just straight up cheating. I can't imagine a good reason for taking your work whatever it may be into the bathroom while having diarrhea.

 

[bronx43]

For all the people saying that he cheated... how the F do you cheat on the ABIM by going to the bathroom during a break? It's not like he went to the bathroom during an actual testing block, in which case, you can make the argument that he looked up answers, then came back to the same block to fill them in. But if your block is already over, then there is literally nothing you can do which would help you on your next block.

I mean, what he did was shady as hell, but I can't think of any way that you would gain an upper hand by going to the bathroom during a break with any object (computer, book, phone, etc).

 

[repititionition]

For all the people saying that he cheated... how the F do you cheat on the ABIM by going to the bathroom during a break? It's not like he went to the bathroom during an actual testing block, in which case, you can make the argument that he looked up answers, then came back to the same block to fill them in. But if your block is already over, then there is literally nothing you can do which would help you on your next block.

I mean, what he did was shady as hell, but I can't think of any way that you would gain an upper hand by going to the bathroom during a break with any object (computer, book, phone, etc).

All true as far as it goes, but there are people who will repeatedly break rules in order to gain any advantage -- real or perceived -- and this feels like one of those people. My guess is this is not the first time they've "cheated", even if it didn't help them in this instance (as you point out).

ETA: the (to me) pretty obvious use of two screen names in this thread is also a red flag for this person's integrity.

 

[HelpPleaseMD]

action was both stupid an intentional. I'd be willing to give someone the benefit of the doubt if perhaps he/sh forgot to put their phone/wallet away but someone who goes to the bathroom with heir belongings in the middle of the test is asking to be cited, flagged and convicted for cheating.

 

[22031 Alum]

For all the people saying that he cheated... how the F do you cheat on the ABIM by going to the bathroom during a break? It's not like he went to the bathroom during an actual testing block, in which case, you can make the argument that he looked up answers, then came back to the same block to fill them in. But if your block is already over, then there is literally nothing you can do which would help you on your next block.

I mean, what he did was shady as hell, but I can't think of any way that you would gain an upper hand by going to the bathroom during a break with any object (computer, book, phone, etc).

If you realize that you have blanked on a particular overarching concept or set of facts that come up often, you could absolutely go "refresh your memory" between blocks. It's quite possible to cheat that way.

 

[mppcc]

I smell TROLL. What ABIM board exam would a resident have been taking on Friday? Even if the OP is now in fellowship, the ABIM exams were all in October/November, etc.

 

[Doctor Bob]

I am still VERY PANIC!!!

 

[buonassezia]

This sounds like /such troll/, as the punctuation and English profiency are so bad as to make me wonder how they ever passed Step 2 CS.

Also, in any scenario in which someone has the runs and accidentally quickly grabs all their stuff (e.g. purse, bag with Immodium) to take to the bathroom, they do not then realize they have the stuff and take the opportunity to start doing "other work" while they're at it on the pot.

Even if this person knows the content of the ABIM and didn't cheat, perhaps they should fail this time for overall terrible judgment under pressure, which also poses a danger to patients.