WQE

[Iladelphia]

Well that was fun.

Does anybody have a clue as to how this thing is graded? Is it on a curve? If so must be the most brutal curve in the history of medicine given the intelligent company we keep. Is there a set pass fail/rate (e.g. 70/30?). I've searched and I've been unable to come up with any sort of consensus. The ABO website isn't much help either.

Thanks - wishing everyone who took the test the best of luck

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[JMK2005]

That's the rumor, but I don't think the ABO has ever confirmed it.

http://abop.org/about/facts-statistics/

 

[VikingFavre]

That sucked. OKAPS nor ophthoquestions were very representative. Here's to passing!

 

[4ophtho]

yes that was awful

as to the OP question, see this page:
http://abop.org/about/facts-statistics/

looks like 80-85% of first time takers pass and 25-30% of repeat takers pass
so far, it looks like the only thing i have going for me is statistics as a first time test taker

when do we get the results

 

[4ophtho]

Are they pretty good about getting back in 8 weeks? Any chance it comes earlier?
Are results available online?

 

[Iladelphia]

No clue - think they email you results

Starting to sweat just thinking about it

 

[backrow]

The results are officially mailed. You can login here http://abop.org/ to see if they have been mailed yet. You'll also get a clue if you passed or not if the results have been mailed and it allows you to sign up for Orals.

 

[Eyefixer]

The results are officially mailed. You can login here http://abop.org/ to see if they have been mailed yet. You'll also get a clue if you passed or not if the results have been mailed and it allows you to sign up for Orals.

How do you know this? My results (this was a few years ago) were mailed exactly 8 weeks later. Have you received yours?

 

[backrow]

How do you know this? My results (this was a few years ago) were mailed exactly 8 weeks later. Have you received yours?

Ah, I see where we got signals mixed. I did not mean to suggest the results for this year have been mailed, only that mailing is the official way results are sent.

Apologies for the confusion.

 

[Eyefixer]

OK, thanks.

 

[4ophtho]

Its been 8 weeks. Where are the results?

 

[Iladelphia]

No clue - but the suspense is killing me!

Reminds me of the time I was incessantly checking my email to see if I got residency invites!

 

[docta9]

Possibilities:
1. too many people passed so they are trying to re-do the passing criteria
2. too many people failed (not too likely to cause this delay)
3. #1 so they suspect cheating (seems nearly impossible to cheat and the penalties are draconian if you do)
4. grading delayed because of some special internal board meeting
5. Big testing error, like there are 2 versions of the tests (don't know if true) and 1 version scored very high and the other scored very low.

 

[Eyefixer]

Wasn't the test on 3/24 this year? If yes, technically it hasn't been 8 weeks yet.

 

[Smileyy]

Wasn't the test on 3/24 this year? If yes, technically it hasn't been 8 weeks yet.

Actually this past Tuesday was 8 weeks.

I called them and they said "last week in May or possibly first week in June." They seemed to imply that the cut off pass score hadn't yet been determined, but they didn't say it frankly like that.

I think that something unexpected happened this year. I doubt more people passed than usual (or maybe I'm just thinking that because I personally thought the test was hard), but I have no clue what's going on.

 

[asbedew]

As of today, it has been 9 weeks. Lets keep our fingers crossed that all the booze they bought with our money runs out soon, so they can stand up long enough to hit that "grade exam" button that's been blinking on their screen for 9 weeks. 😉

 

[docta9]

Some kind of manipulation is going on...
People's careers are at stake.

 

[Iladelphia]

there must be some sort of adjustment to the scores going on - nine weeks is an incredibly long time to score a computerized exam. I've talked to recent grads and they all said they received their scores at eight weeks on the dot, if not earlier. Here's to hoping they are adjusting in our favor!!

 

[Smileyy]

there must be some sort of adjustment to the scores going on - nine weeks is an incredibly long time to score a computerized exam. I've talked to recent grads and they all said they received their scores at eight weeks on the dot, if not earlier. Here's to hoping they are adjusting in our favor!!

Failing more people means more money for them when all those people have to retake it again next year. I want to be optimistic and say they would curve it in our favor too... But for people who already fail more than any other medical speciality board, I don't have high hopes!

 

[4ophtho]

If this doesn't play out well I'm going rand paul on this joint
Have you all been following the mess at the ABIM?

 

[Smileyy]

If this doesn't play out well I'm going rand paul on this joint
Have you all been following the mess at the ABIM?

Yes, that does seem like pretty ridiculous MOC requirements.
I wish I did better understand where our money goes... Do they publish this info anywhere??

 

[EyeDoctor23]

The cutoff passing score was set last week. Scores should be out this week or next.

 

[Smileyy]

They are up!

 

[Iladelphia]

I passed! It's a miracle!

Good luck everyone

 

[sfeyedoc]

how do you find out if you passed? haven't received anything in the mail yet. do they email you?

 

[docta9]

They don't email you. If you log in to their website (www.abop.org) it will say if you can register for the oral exam and marked "passed" for the written. If you didn't pass, it says you can register for the written.

 

[backrow]

Congratulations to all who passed the WQE and best of luck on the Oral exams.

 

[docta9]

Results are back. There is some manipulation going on but uncertain how much and what it is.

The scaled score for passing is 383. That is lower than the traditional 400, I'm told. That suggests that they allowed a lower score in order to pass. Possibly 5 more questions wrong were allowed. My guess is that if they kept it at 400, quite a few more people would have failed.

Still, it is appreciated that when they lowered the passing score, they did so where a little higher percentage of people passed, more than many years, according to the ABO published statistics. If they didn't lower the score, a lot more people would have failed. If they made the passing score 387, the passing rate might have been lower than it previous years so they may have decided to drop the passing score by one more question, resulting in a slightly higher pass rate than recent years.

 

[usamsIII]

WHere are most scores this year? The score report states that the highest score was 999....are all of our scores around 50-100 point of each other...,or are they scattered between 383-999 for those that passed?...if what docta9 says is true then ......damnnnnnn....