Step 1 question errors

[babsco]

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I just took step 1 June 10 and I had rather unexpected problem. I don't want to get into too much detail on the actual question but it had a rather obvious answer but then that wasn't an option and instead two of the answers were duplicated. It was about 1/2 way through so I thought I might be hallucinating so I went back to it 3 or 4 times. Normally I would chalk up the answer I wanted not being there to me not remembering something simple or misreading the question. But, the duplicate answers seems like such an obvious error I thought I would ask if anyone else had this experience and does anyone know where to report it?

 

[Sol Rosenberg]

Hey babsco, I don't want to go into too much detail either, but did the question involve a visual field defect?

If so, I think I had the exact same question, because my reaction was very similar to yours (and I remembered reading your post.)

 

[NJDIF]

Holy Crap!

I took my exam today and had the exact same question. It involved a rather obvious 'visual field' deficit question we've all seen 1000's of times before.

I told them in my survey section about it. the lady at the front desk said that if I put it in there, they'll read it.

We can't be the first people to notice it.

 

[C6789]

I took it today and had a genetics question that could be answered by the stem alone, but the corresponding pedigree didn't match. Like, the stem IDed the proband and listed specific family members who were affected, but a completely different set of relatives were affected on the pedigree.

 

[PokerDoc]

don't forget they could be experimentals and i would highly suspect they would remove those questions from your score instead of leaving them there.

 

[Krazykyle]

Agreed. Took it yesterday and had the same thing, really threw me for a loop. That is pretty lame that their editors are not even able to catch a major error like two of the same foils. Also I had a genetics question like the guy above me where the pedigree didn't match the stem. Two questions also had significant grammatical errors.

Eg (Made up): 54 yr old woman comes to the clinic. Her has a pulse of 54/min

 

[PokerDoc]

Eg (Made up): 54 yr old woman comes to the clinic. Her has a pulse of 54/min

sounds like the in-house exams at my school all over again.. I have a ton of experience with poorly written questions

 

[babsco]

I don't know if it is a relief or anxiety provoking to hear of additional mistakes but thanks for posting; I am sure any problems will not amount to anything and will work themselves out. I emailed NBME about my question and they said they would look into it and remove it from scoring if a problem was found. Here is their contact info:
Phone:
Please call (215) 590-9700, Monday through Friday during the following hours (Eastern Time)
Email:
Include your full name, USMLE ID# (if known) and your medical school with your correspondence. Problems with the administration of an examination: [email protected]