This is little lengthy but is what I had emailed back to NBOME (I wonder if this Dr. Meoli guy will actually read this.) Also sent a copy to the president of AACOM (doubt what that can do). You may have noticed on the email NBOME sent us, for those of us who can't/ won't retake the exam, essentially, they are forcing us to sign the waiver by threatening to void the scores otherwise. Don't do it! Who knows if it's just the pictures that they screwed up. I agree, we should demand to know our scores before signing the waiver, blindly. Retesting free of charge may not cost NBOME anything, but think of all the sacrifices we have to make by their screw up. I know because I had to do it once before due to their screw up, again, but rescheduling is a b**** especially when there are no availability essentially. Why can't they just void the questions and readjust the scores for one thing?
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Dr. Meoli,
I was originally scheduled to take COMLEX level 2-CE on 8/26 in Davie, FL, my hometown. However, I was notified later by Prometric, cancellation of the exam due to hurricane Katrina. Although, I have not received any official notification to the candidates regarding the cancellation from NBOME, as of yet. As you may know, as a candidate for COMLEX level 2, I am a fourth year medical student and have been scheduled in advanced for elective rotations throughout the country at this time in preparation for the residency selection. September in Washington, DC, and October in Seattle, WA. Also, since I am a Army scholarship recipient, I am obligated to match residency which is earlier in Oct (10/15), meaning that all the documentations including the COMLEX level 2 score to be filed by then. Although, I was offered to reschedule the exam without additional fee, since there were no exam days available due to very limited days authorized by NBOME(Sep 6&7 and Oct 3-7, etc) if they were available at all, I had extreme difficulty rescheduling the exam. I immediatly contacted NBOME via phone and email; I have emailed to the contacts listed on the NBOME websites, however, the only response I received was an automated message stating that the responding party will be unavailable until 9/6, which was not helpful at all. I spoke to, finally, in particular, Ms. Margaret Wong for NBOME to facilitate candidates in such situation as me whose tests were cancelled due to the hurricane to make available an extra day. I hope you understand that the hurricane was an unforseen event, however, NBOME is the facilitator of medical (professional) board/licensure exam and has accepted a (substantial) fee for such service, and did well in advance. Nevertheless, the request was unanswered/denied by NBOME. In any case, no dates were available in any site in FL until 10/3, as of 8/27. And because I was scheduled to begin my rotation in DC for the month of September, I was forced to take the exam at the site closest to the DC area that offered opening any earlier than 10/3, which was 9/7 in Glen Allen (Richmond), VA. This was done with more than a few sacrifices. I did this by personal expenses but also not only with inconvenience of having to travel a long distance where I was not familiar with and even worse was which to have inconvenienced the others, especially the people of new rotation site where I had to excuse myself for absence on the first week. Not to mention, the level of preparedness for the exam that had to be maintained. Nevertheless, I was able to take the exam at the time and the day at the site without problem, so I thought. I did not experience any technical difficulties during the exam. Then, yesterday, I received your message below.
In short, I do not want to repeat the experience of rescheduling and taking the COMLEX level 2 CE again if NBOME can assure me that as long as I did not experience apparent technical difficulties with the exam on Sep 7, that the answers that I have entered would be unaffected and that my test will be scored correctly. NBOME should make the point clearly before making any candidate sign the acceptance and waiver form, as it was unclear in the message below. I expect your prompt response so that I may respond to your concern below in return.
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. Then it is unfair to other students who cannot take the test again despite low passing score.