mongoman
Forum Newbie
Topics: 5
Posts: 17
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OK, now that the dust has settled (took my exam yesterday in Germany) and I finally found a little time to reconsider the entire testing situation, I find myself really annoyed at Prometric and the USMLE folks.
First of all, I paid quite a lot of money to sit for an exam of 8 hours duration. Frankly, for the amount of fees I paid to Prometric, one could easily purchase four brand-spanking new flat screen monitors - I arrived to the testing center only to find that they had an old cathode ray tube screen flickering so that your brain went into standby by just sitting in front of it for a couple of seconds.
Even in the most remote mountain village, I didnt see CRT monitors any more, but on one of the most important exams of my life, I am being forced by Prometric to revert to last-millenium, low-level, flickering technology. That was just annoying.
Also, the week-long waiting period for your test results: I dont get it. This is a computerized exam, they know your result the second you finish the final question block, so why on earth would anyone make the test-taker wait several weeks before reporting a score ? Effectively, this is time taken away from you in which you could prepare for Step II or study for Step I again (check the one that applies). I feel that for 850$, they should tell you your score right away, or, if they are afraid that you would either wreak havoc on the test center or jump out of the 8th floor window of the testing center, they could at least email you the result the day after your exam, that way they wouldnt have to risk dead bodies littering the sidewalks in front of the Prometric building.
I also felt annoyed by the fact that even if you did encounter a question that was formulated containing a mistake that made it impossible to answer the question, there was no one to report this problem to, because the only "prometric agent" at the site would certainly not be able to assess a medical question, basically administering TOEFL tests all year long except for the odd USMLE warrior every once in a while.
In order to spare us the expense and trouble traveling to some testing center, why doesn´t Prometric just deliver Step 1 over the phone - "If you think the patient is suffering from gouty arthritis, press 1". :-))
There are upsides to taking the Step 1, too: Turns out the hotel I chose for my overnight stay was hosting some kind of model casting and the entire place was sparkling with the most incredible Russian supermodels every way you went, so no matter what my score might be, I sure had a great time.
Good luck to you all,
Mongoman
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F*ck Step 1
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| 5fluorouracil
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lol...... thanks for your account of step 1.... good luck for score! (3wks goes by quick) 
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| usmlekiller
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mannnnnnn that was the best post i have ever read on prep4umsle.....please keep writing more.....i love this
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| maoudoody
Forum Guru
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mongoman wrote:
In order to spare us the expense and trouble traveling to some testing center, why doesn´t Prometric just deliver Step 1 over the phone - "If you think the patient is suffering from gouty arthritis, press 1". :-))
lol!!!
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| mongoman
Forum Newbie
Topics: 5
Posts: 17
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Well thanks for your empathy / support. I think I shouldve read this forum more often before I went in to face the music - but your posts are quite reassuring, so lets sit and wait...
Good luck to you all,
Mongoman
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F*ck Step 1
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| sigh
Forum Guru
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Ye...I heard from somebody that one would wait for his score 3 weeks because THEY NEED TO ADJUST YOUR EXAM... the question is adgast to what?
The interesting fact is that noone can prove his score is real because they can not give you all correct and incorrect questions...
Anyway, Good luck!
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| usmlekiller
Forum Guru
Topics: 18
Posts: 1,010
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mongoman......im sure u did well man.....everyone feels the same way.....just be patient and wait for the results.........goodluck to u
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| gauri14
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wow!!that was fun!!! all the best!!!
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| bioguy
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dude, you are funny! don't worry, you will do good!!!!! all the best.
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ARE YOU A ROCKNROLLA?
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| HGPRTase
Forum Junior
Topics: 6
Posts: 86
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hahaha! chill. you passed
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| dr_puma
Forum Guru
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Posts: 501
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phew.....different sort of a post......welcome change from routine stuff.All the best.Did u fill feedback form at prometric?and the survey post exam?
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do whatever u want,but do it wholeheartedly...never hold back.
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| mongoman
Forum Newbie
Topics: 5
Posts: 17
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Feedback forms? I didnt see no feedback forms, but I certainly took the post-exam online survey. Gee, that felt good, finally I felt in charge !
And yes, I ranked them 0 on the "screen didn´t flicker" question, even though I doubt anyone at Prometric will ever do something about it.
Coming to think of it: on my way out of the testing center, a Frau-Farbissina-lookalike Prometric agent wished me well, asking me on my plans (So you want to go to college in the US ? - No maam, I have been a trauma surgeon for years) and then said, and I quote:
"You´re most welcome back here at the center for the Step 2 exam".
Given the array of computer servers in the tiny test supervisor room she called her natural habitat, given all the computing power sitting right beneath hear desk, connected by powerful network cabling right to the sorry workstation I gave my sorry Step 1 exam on, MAYBE SHE ALREADY KNEW SOMETHING I DIDNT - like my score ?!!?
So am I wrong to infer that she might already have told me that I passed, right there on the spot ?!!? Or do you think it was just her polite way of saying "you´re not welcome here again for another try at Step 1, come back once you´re up to Step 2 level"
Gee, all this USMLE stuff is leaving me confused.
Edited by mongoman on 09/25/08 - 12:58 PM
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F*ck Step 1
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| usmlekiller
Forum Guru
Topics: 18
Posts: 1,010
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lol yet another entertaining post loll im loving this.....and i HIGHLY doubt that the person working there knows whether u passed or not.....usmle is not that stupid
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| dr_elreifai85
Forum Junior
Topics: 2
Posts: 131
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mongoman wrote:
There are upsides to taking the Step 1, too: Turns out the hotel I chose for my overnight stay was hosting some kind of model casting and the entire place was sparkling with the most incredible Russian supermodels every way you went, so no matter what my score might be, I sure had a great time.
Good luck to you all,
Mongoman
thats the best part looooooool
Edited by dr_elreifai85 on 09/26/08 - 03:21 PM
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| dr_puma
Forum Guru
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Posts: 501
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man please post details of ur prep.
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do whatever u want,but do it wholeheartedly...never hold back.
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| pmapunk66
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lol lol lol lol!!!!! you are wayyyy too funny... keep posting and keep us laughing with tha humor of yours......... I just hope my prometric test center in Barcelona doesn't have a "screen didn´t flicker" computer........ i wish you all the best in the score. Btw, where in Europe do you live??
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