After taking the Step 2 PE I had to rant a little bit- forgive me if a thread like this already exists on sdn- I'm a newbie poster
First- to give credit where credit is due:
1. The facilities (Conshohocken for the DO test) are very nice and the staff are very professional
2. The test was well run and the expectations from the staff were pretty clear
3. The SPs themselves were a lot better than most of the SPs I've previously had- they acted more like real patients than the other ones I've had in the past
4. The clinical scenarios were varied and some of them actually got you thinking
However...
This test is 100% worthless and its sole purpose can only be to for the NBOME/NBME to make more money. This test was a waste of time, money, and effort and having to take it really got under my skin.
We get tested on these patient interaction skills EVERY DAY of our clinical rotations- what is the point of doing it as a dog and pony show for the cameras? Yes, I know that we abbreviate the physical exam a lot on the wards to get things done but having this test is not going to change anything.
With a first time pass rate exceeding 94% for the DO test- what is the freaking point? Is anyone really not ever going to become a doctor because of this test? Even the most incompetent students I've seen could still fake it enough on this test...that's because most of your score is about communicating and writing the English language effectively. Should this be a test for foreign medical grads- absolutely...for the rest of us- absolutely not!
As for the money- I don't have much to complain about since I go to PCOM but I can't imagine going to school out on the west coast somewhere, flying out to Philly, getting a hotel room, and then getting a rental car (because there's no good public transit out to the test site) for a test that was so freaking worthless. At least the MDs have a testing site in Chicago (right?) and in Philly where there adequate public transit available...while the entire country of DOs has to descend on Philly and the best the NBOME can say is "schedule a rotation in the Philly area for when you want to take the test" How much is that 1,000+ bucks going to cost you down the road in interest? Thanks, NBOME...
I did mine during my vacation but if I had to take a day off of a rotation I liked I would be so mad that I wasted my time with this test instead of actually seeing REAL patients with REAL problems whome I could actually help.
This test needs to stop...I call on my MD colleagues to get rid of it because- let's get real- the DOs can't get rid of it first. Students who have taken the test should let the pre-clinical students know how worthless this test is so they can start protesting it to the national student organizations and the AMA/AOA and demand that this worthless charade be stopped. I know that there have been rumors that it was going away from the year it started but that hasn't come true. We need action to get rid of this test that does nothing for patient care or safety as the NBOME/NBME claims.
My 0.02...
First- to give credit where credit is due:
1. The facilities (Conshohocken for the DO test) are very nice and the staff are very professional
2. The test was well run and the expectations from the staff were pretty clear
3. The SPs themselves were a lot better than most of the SPs I've previously had- they acted more like real patients than the other ones I've had in the past
4. The clinical scenarios were varied and some of them actually got you thinking
However...
This test is 100% worthless and its sole purpose can only be to for the NBOME/NBME to make more money. This test was a waste of time, money, and effort and having to take it really got under my skin.
We get tested on these patient interaction skills EVERY DAY of our clinical rotations- what is the point of doing it as a dog and pony show for the cameras? Yes, I know that we abbreviate the physical exam a lot on the wards to get things done but having this test is not going to change anything.
With a first time pass rate exceeding 94% for the DO test- what is the freaking point? Is anyone really not ever going to become a doctor because of this test? Even the most incompetent students I've seen could still fake it enough on this test...that's because most of your score is about communicating and writing the English language effectively. Should this be a test for foreign medical grads- absolutely...for the rest of us- absolutely not!
As for the money- I don't have much to complain about since I go to PCOM but I can't imagine going to school out on the west coast somewhere, flying out to Philly, getting a hotel room, and then getting a rental car (because there's no good public transit out to the test site) for a test that was so freaking worthless. At least the MDs have a testing site in Chicago (right?) and in Philly where there adequate public transit available...while the entire country of DOs has to descend on Philly and the best the NBOME can say is "schedule a rotation in the Philly area for when you want to take the test" How much is that 1,000+ bucks going to cost you down the road in interest? Thanks, NBOME...
I did mine during my vacation but if I had to take a day off of a rotation I liked I would be so mad that I wasted my time with this test instead of actually seeing REAL patients with REAL problems whome I could actually help.
This test needs to stop...I call on my MD colleagues to get rid of it because- let's get real- the DOs can't get rid of it first. Students who have taken the test should let the pre-clinical students know how worthless this test is so they can start protesting it to the national student organizations and the AMA/AOA and demand that this worthless charade be stopped. I know that there have been rumors that it was going away from the year it started but that hasn't come true. We need action to get rid of this test that does nothing for patient care or safety as the NBOME/NBME claims.
My 0.02...
