possible petition concerning test conditions?

[silenthunder]

Given that there are people with concerns which are fairly legitimate:

Who wishes to make an online petition regarding this?

I don't have very much knowledge about this kind of thing. Please, if you have any knowledge of this kind of thing and have any concern about the matter at hand ( ie. writing in boiler rooms/writing without drinking water/ writing on a day when many people don't have to write) PLEASE STAR A PETITION AND POST IT HERE!!!

Alternatively, if you are willing to provide me with instructions to start an online petition: Please provide the instructions to me here, or in a PM. I would greatly appreciate it.

Yeah, it is a legitimate statement for anyone to point the finger at me and say I'm bitter at not having prepared adequately, and now having to blame the AAMC.

But y'know what? I think that there are people out there who DID prepare for the test adequately and WERE ready to write in relatively fair conditions who are getting screwed over by the AAMC's general lack of sensitivity.

I know that the odds of the AAMC batting an eyelash at this kind of thing are minimal, and I know that this kind of thing is a lost cause, but there is also a minor chance that if enough people speak up about this thing then the AAMC will have to notice.

Besides that: I got nothing to do: it's summer

I hope everyone is doing okay,

Cheers y'all

Silenthunder

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[Jon Davis]

Yeah, I think we should tell them to acknowledge that a number had subpar test enviornments and to solve the problem if there happens to be a trend in those affected areas. (I would imagine there would be.) I studied my ass off this summer, and most of the SDNers did too, and to write in a "non-standard" type of environment is a considerable disadvantage. The AAMC acknowledges that the test conditions do play a large role in performance and so I hope they take this into account. Nonetheless, those affected must address their concerns to AAMC to let them know how prevalent the situation is.
Later.

 

[blackopal]

Even though my testing center was okay, I can understand how much it must have bothered people to have to take the test in a hot room or other poor conditions. I think it would be better to organize some kind of paper-letter writing campaign rather than just an online petition. Online petitions usually don't make much of an impression, but it's harder to ignore a bunch of mail. just an idea

 

[Columbia22]

My testing center had the fire alarm pulled, but you know what, why are you guys complaining??? The MCAT is only the first step in a long process. You think in the future, when you're standing in the operating room hovering over a man in cardiac arrest, that you're gonna throw down your gloves complaining that the room is too hot??? or that you can't work because sirens are going off??? that there isnt enough lighting??? Give us a break here dudes, the test is more about testing your cool under such situations rather than testing whether or not you know how to reduce an imine. Let's be real here and stop beating around the bush. If you can't deal with the heat, or perhaps plan on sitting in an office in the future prescribing Tylenol and Bayer, well then maybe this isnt the profession for you.

 

[Jon Davis]

Originally posted by Columbia22
My testing center had the fire alarm pulled, but you know what, why are you guys complaining??? The MCAT is only the first step in a long process. You think in the future, when you're standing in the operating room hovering over a man in cardiac arrest, that you're gonna throw down your gloves complaining that the room is too hot??? or that you can't work because sirens are going off??? that there isnt enough lighting??? Give us a break here dudes, the test is more about testing your cool under such situations rather than testing whether or not you know how to reduce an imine. Let's be real here and stop beating around the bush. If you can't deal with the heat, or perhaps plan on sitting in an office in the future prescribing Tylenol and Bayer, well then maybe this isnt the profession for you.

The people who attack our position dont have a clue what the issue really is. Its about equal testing conditions, not how you can deal with stress and whether it can make you a "good" doctor or not.

 

[Columbia22]

I think you'll learn a bit or two about your notion of "equality" once you start work in the hospital

 

[silenthunder]

Columbia 22,

what medical school are you attending and how did you get there? Was it through a system that you would like to think was based on equality and/or fairness?

Or did you arrive there because of a bias.

The argument you propose as an analogy is in very few ways comparable to the writing of an mcat.

If the mcat was about the real world then someone would be running around screaming, and perhaps another person would be trying to evacuate their bowels on my test paper.

It is not the real world. It is a test, supposedly administered in a fair and standard condition.

I am trying to have this issue addressed, and to find out if there are others of like mind (i.e. to determine if the issue should be addressed). I am not trying to alter my score. If my score is bad, it's bad. If it's good, it's good.

Either way it has no bearing upon the reasons why I'd like to see AAMC made aware that people are concerned about testing conditions.

Perhaps speaking out about this kind of thing will ensure that the AAMC examines it's current protocol regarding what to do when conditions arise which may affect the fairness of the test situation.

Are there others out there concerned about the current situation, and that it may be fostering a situation where the testing conditions are not standard (273K/1atm ) ?

Cheers all,

Silenthunder

 

[noy]

Originally posted by silenthunder
....

If the mcat was about the real world then someone would be running around screaming, and perhaps another person would be trying to evacuate their bowels on my test paper.

....Silenthunder [/B]

Haahahhahah! I'd love to see that on the boards - simulated real-world conditions! Or on MTV 2004 season: "Taking the MCAT". John was trying valiantly to finish the verbal section, but the toothless streetwalker kept defacating on his answer sheet...

 

[zinjanthropus]

columbia22,
for a standardized test to be truly standardized, as many variables as possible must be controlled so that the variable that is normalized accurately reflects differences in something 'real' (i.e. the differences in the scores mean differences in potential medical school sucess, not in how well someone handles an uncomfortable environment)

i think your grip on understanding how a scientific statistical procedure works (normalizing data) will be much more of a hinderance to being a good doctor then these people's valid concerns regarding test conditions

AAMC makes a lot of money and does not do a very good job at any step of this process, both from the student perspective and from the medschool perspective (i.e. both groups complain about the disorganization of the AAMC very often)

i was lucky that my test conditions were fine and did not in any way affect my performance, however, i would hope that everyone else out there felt the same way.

 

[Mistress S]

My test conditions were fine as well (other than ignorant proctors), but I can absolutely see why some people whose test conditions ranged from bad to hellish are complaining. For $185 a pop, you'd think they could do a much better job of providing a testing environment that is consistently secure and comfortable. I haven't even begun the application process yet, and I have already started to develop a healthy dislike for the AAMC; they don't seem very concerned with the students who are forced to use the services they provide (MCAT, AMCAS), but don't hesitate to charge hefty fees for those services.

 

[sgilani]

I agree with whoever said that snail mail is better than an online petition. Here's the address. You're supposed to write within three weeks of the test date.
MCAT Program Office
P.O. Box 4056
Iowa City, Iowa 52243-4056

 

[Jon Davis]

Thanks for the responses and providing the AAMC address. Now it is up to us to respond in full force.
After Columbia22 made his/her comments after my last statement, I gave up. You can't influence reason into a person that is out of touch with reality. Oh well.
Later.

 

[silenthunder]

hey svilani (hope I got that right)

thanx for the address. I'm going to mail my letter out sometime soon. I'm still going to take a look at starting the online thing though. I know it's not as effective, but it's also alot more convenient for most people.

I encourage people to send a written response, or to show some kind of response to aamc if you're not happy with the testing conditions. They need to get the message.

Cheers,

Silenthunder

 

[Wilford Brimley]

Originally posted by Columbia22
My testing center had the fire alarm pulled, but you know what, why are you guys complaining??? The MCAT is only the first step in a long process. You think in the future, when you're standing in the operating room hovering over a man in cardiac arrest, that you're gonna throw down your gloves complaining that the room is too hot??? or that you can't work because sirens are going off??? that there isnt enough lighting??? Give us a break here dudes, the test is more about testing your cool under such situations rather than testing whether or not you know how to reduce an imine. Let's be real here and stop beating around the bush. If you can't deal with the heat, or perhaps plan on sitting in an office in the future prescribing Tylenol and Bayer, well then maybe this isnt the profession for you.

Columbia,

I agree wiith you wholeheartedly!

To those who are complaining,

I understand that the situations may be unequal and that they most definately sucked... mine wasn't so great itself... However, we all must realise that there is no such thing as true equality when people are taking the test in different centers. If you would like to create a million pre-med march in Washington and take the test together, I think THAT would be out of the question. You will NEVER have equal conditions... EVER. It sucks, but it is the truth and you have to be able to cope with sub-standard conditions. The conditions may have been Shi**y but you all made it through the exam.

With that said, I will now play my cards and give you a definition of what I think would warrant special consideration. I would consider a physical event out of the test-taker's control that physically separates the test-taker from his or her test as something that should be dealt with accordingly.

Suppose a doctor has to do an emergency surgery in the sweltering heat with substandard apparatus, does that give him the right to complain? Yes it does. However he must do the surgery and do just as good a job as the surgeon who is working in the best of conditions. He wouldn't be justified in screwing up no matter what!

Now suppose that a crazy knife-wielding psycho disrupts the doctor's surgery or an Earthquake occurs and the floor falls out from under the doctor and patient... No doubt the doctor would be justified in screwing up. Is this not an event that separates doctor from patient, where it is literally out of the doctor's hands?

What about those doctors in emergency rooms and the EMTs who had to speed through chaotic streets without working traffic lights to get to and help injured people? I was reading a post on here from someone who was saying how the fire department had to cut holes in the walls of the hospital to transport patients. What about those hospitals that had only one working elevator? Aren't these unequal conditions as compared with other parts of the country?

Yet there are NO TAKEBACKS when it comes to patient care. Therefore, it seems like one must be able to improvise and may have to work under sub-standard conditions to save lives. You can't take back those mistakes... It is a business of saving lives, and an MCAT in these conditions is perhaps the best simulation of this that a test can actually give.

I am not mitigating your plights. I, do think that may want to look back on this, like I will, as the greatest paper test one could ever have of their coping skills which, indeed, should be a quality that doctors embody.

 

[....]

lunatic

 

[Wilford Brimley]

Originally posted by hightrump
lunatic

You're getting funnier!


Hey. I'm not going to get into it with you. I already disengaged from talking to you when you made a stupid joke about a dead doctor's parent in the Allopathic forum.

I won't say I'm appologetic for saying it was in bad taste and explaining why in case you weren't joking (I am beginning to have my doubts). Either way it was in bad taste. Could you handle it?

Perhaps if you're a real man we could just disengage at this point from further discussion or name-calling. No hard feelings hightrump, I sometimes get riled up myself at some of the posts out there.

However, if you would like to discuss this further... if you want to talk about it... you can always private message me. Thank you.

 

[nanosomic]

I have not taken the mcat yet (april baby!) but I understand the inconveniences a hot room, sirens and fire alarms may cause. Factors like these will sometimes make a person go blank and cant even think straight especially in a pressurized atmosphere. This is not fair to those people who experienced such inconveniences and hope this shi+ does not happen next april or I will lead a 10 million mcaters match to aamc hq.