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So, someone in the IMG forum said that 38 people at the Houston (my) location went from Fail to Pass (including someone who lost his/her residency position because of it). I'm mildly freaking because I may be affected. Ironically, I have no idea WHEN my score was officially "reported". I took the exam in Feb and got my results in early April. But no where on the report is a date stating when the score was "reported". Just the test date. What a mess! Does anyone know anything about how this may affect residency positions? Or know anyone who got a screwed up report?
Anyway, here is the link and text of the FAQ section:
http://www.usmle.org/FAQs/faqStep2CSreports.htm
FREQUENTLY ASKED QUESTIONS
ABOUT THE PROBLEM IDENTIFIED IN STEP 2 CS REPORTS DATED JANUARY 12 - MARCH 30
Posted April 20, 2005
--------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Who was affected?
The problem potentially affects only those examinees who had a Step 2 CS score report dated January 12 through March 30, 2005. Within this group, the number of examinees whose overall outcome will change is small.
If I took CS and have not yet received my score report, how will this affect me?
Your outcome will not be affected by this problem. However, there may be some delay in reporting your results.
What exactly happened?
As you know, each examinee meets with standardized patients during the clinical skills exam. The examinee's note for each such encounter is then assigned to a physician specially trained to rate notes. Because of a computer problem, for score reports dated January 12 through March 30, the ratings of some notes were not properly matched to the examinees who had written them. Upon discovery, the problem was immediately rectified.
Does it matter where I took the exam?
It does not matter where you took the exam.
What if I failed Step 2 CS during the relevant time?
We have sent letters by express mail to everyone who failed only the Integrated Clinical Encounter (ICE) component of Step 2 CS in the relevant time period. Most of the letters confirmed the examinee's failing classification. We determined that in 38 instances, the examinee's classification changed from fail to pass. For another 20 examinees, we informed the examinees that there will be a delay in re-processing their scores and verifying or changing their outcome. Examinees who failed Communication and Interpersonal Skills (CIS), Spoken English Proficiency (SEP) or both continue to fail the overall exam; letters explaining the scoring problem were sent to them by US mail.
The letters went to the addresses in our database. If your status changed from fail to pass, we have also tried to call you. If you received a failing classification in a score report dated between January 12 and March 30 and have changed your address without notifying us, please call 866-504-8564 (toll free from within the US or Canada) or 215-590-9260 immediately, or contact us by email at [email protected] .
What if I received a passing Step 2 CS score report dated January 12 through March 30?
Our preliminary analysis indicates that few, if any, examinees who received passing scores dated between January 12 and March 30 will change to a failing score. However, it may take several more weeks to complete a comprehensive review. If the status of any individual must change from pass to fail, we will notify the examinee as soon as we can confirm the change.
On what basis would someone's status change from pass to fail?
While we are extremely sensitive to examinees' concerns, we must weigh any decision in the context of the exam's overall purpose. The USMLE is intended to demonstrate that doctors who pass the test demonstrate the fundamental knowledge and clinical skills deemed necessary for the initial license to practice medicine.
What are you doing to help the people whose status has changed?
We are contacting each one by phone and express mail, using the contact information in our database. We are responding to each person's situation individually, working with the examinee to identify any steps we can take to address his or her situation. For any examinees whose status is changing, we are also notifying the organizations that originally received the incorrect status through the transcript service or other reporting mechanisms. For examinees enrolled in U.S. medical schools, we have contacted their deans personally.
Why is it taking so long to notify people?
We had to correct the problem, figure out who could have been affected, and re-rate the notes of the examinees. In re-rating notes, we followed our standard protocol, which calls for two ratings of any notes that fall close to the pass/fail line for that component of the Integrated Clinical Encounter. Because the note raters are specially trained practicing physicians, the speed with which we can re-rate notes is limited.
How was the problem identified?
A quality control team identified the problem.
What steps are you taking to make sure it doesn't happen again?
All USMLE programs incorporate a number of steps for quality control. The process is continuous, rigorous, and constantly reviewed. Every time a problem occurs, we identify its causes and put safeguards in place to prevent a similar problem from happening again.
What does this say about the quality of the clinical skills exam?
The problem occurred in the software that processes patient notes, not in the scoring of the notes. It also does not affect any other part of the Step 2 CS, nor does it affect other parts of the USMLE.
Anyway, here is the link and text of the FAQ section:
http://www.usmle.org/FAQs/faqStep2CSreports.htm
FREQUENTLY ASKED QUESTIONS
ABOUT THE PROBLEM IDENTIFIED IN STEP 2 CS REPORTS DATED JANUARY 12 - MARCH 30
Posted April 20, 2005
--------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Who was affected?
The problem potentially affects only those examinees who had a Step 2 CS score report dated January 12 through March 30, 2005. Within this group, the number of examinees whose overall outcome will change is small.
If I took CS and have not yet received my score report, how will this affect me?
Your outcome will not be affected by this problem. However, there may be some delay in reporting your results.
What exactly happened?
As you know, each examinee meets with standardized patients during the clinical skills exam. The examinee's note for each such encounter is then assigned to a physician specially trained to rate notes. Because of a computer problem, for score reports dated January 12 through March 30, the ratings of some notes were not properly matched to the examinees who had written them. Upon discovery, the problem was immediately rectified.
Does it matter where I took the exam?
It does not matter where you took the exam.
What if I failed Step 2 CS during the relevant time?
We have sent letters by express mail to everyone who failed only the Integrated Clinical Encounter (ICE) component of Step 2 CS in the relevant time period. Most of the letters confirmed the examinee's failing classification. We determined that in 38 instances, the examinee's classification changed from fail to pass. For another 20 examinees, we informed the examinees that there will be a delay in re-processing their scores and verifying or changing their outcome. Examinees who failed Communication and Interpersonal Skills (CIS), Spoken English Proficiency (SEP) or both continue to fail the overall exam; letters explaining the scoring problem were sent to them by US mail.
The letters went to the addresses in our database. If your status changed from fail to pass, we have also tried to call you. If you received a failing classification in a score report dated between January 12 and March 30 and have changed your address without notifying us, please call 866-504-8564 (toll free from within the US or Canada) or 215-590-9260 immediately, or contact us by email at [email protected] .
What if I received a passing Step 2 CS score report dated January 12 through March 30?
Our preliminary analysis indicates that few, if any, examinees who received passing scores dated between January 12 and March 30 will change to a failing score. However, it may take several more weeks to complete a comprehensive review. If the status of any individual must change from pass to fail, we will notify the examinee as soon as we can confirm the change.
On what basis would someone's status change from pass to fail?
While we are extremely sensitive to examinees' concerns, we must weigh any decision in the context of the exam's overall purpose. The USMLE is intended to demonstrate that doctors who pass the test demonstrate the fundamental knowledge and clinical skills deemed necessary for the initial license to practice medicine.
What are you doing to help the people whose status has changed?
We are contacting each one by phone and express mail, using the contact information in our database. We are responding to each person's situation individually, working with the examinee to identify any steps we can take to address his or her situation. For any examinees whose status is changing, we are also notifying the organizations that originally received the incorrect status through the transcript service or other reporting mechanisms. For examinees enrolled in U.S. medical schools, we have contacted their deans personally.
Why is it taking so long to notify people?
We had to correct the problem, figure out who could have been affected, and re-rate the notes of the examinees. In re-rating notes, we followed our standard protocol, which calls for two ratings of any notes that fall close to the pass/fail line for that component of the Integrated Clinical Encounter. Because the note raters are specially trained practicing physicians, the speed with which we can re-rate notes is limited.
How was the problem identified?
A quality control team identified the problem.
What steps are you taking to make sure it doesn't happen again?
All USMLE programs incorporate a number of steps for quality control. The process is continuous, rigorous, and constantly reviewed. Every time a problem occurs, we identify its causes and put safeguards in place to prevent a similar problem from happening again.
What does this say about the quality of the clinical skills exam?
The problem occurred in the software that processes patient notes, not in the scoring of the notes. It also does not affect any other part of the Step 2 CS, nor does it affect other parts of the USMLE.
