EMERGENCY MAILBAG: The USMLE Cheating Scandal
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- เผยแพร่เมื่อ 18 ก.ย. 2024
- This week, the USMLE announced that a number of test-takers from Nepal would have their Step scores invalidated due to “a pattern of anomalous test performance” suggesting “prior unauthorized access to secure exam content.”
This was big news that flooded my inbox and DMs… and necessitated an emergency mailbag. Here, I’ll cover ‘USMLE recalls’; Prometric center test security; how the cheaters got caught (and what will happen to them in the future); and where the USMLE should go from here to improve test security and maintain trust in their scores.
*** - Be sure to check out Part 2 and Part 3 here!
MORE Emergency Mailbag: The USMLE Cheating Scandal, Part II
• MORE Emergency Mailbag...
Mailbag: Wrapping Up the USMLE Cheating Scandal
• Mailbag: Wrapping Up t...
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NOTES:
1. Here are the official statements from the USMLE and the ECFMG…
www.usmle.org/...
www.ecfmg.org/...
2. I mentioned a few videos that explain in further detail certain other things about the USMLE…
Breaking the magic: how the USMLE three-digit score is calculated
• Breaking the magic: ho...
Mailbag: Questions about the USMLE
• Mailbag: Questions abo...
A Brief Update on USMLE Score Creep
• A Brief Update on USML...
3. Here are the papers I mentioned…
Wood TJ, et al. Identifying the unauthorized use of examination material. Eval Health Prof 2010;33(1):96-108.
pubmed.ncbi.nl...
Smith R. Cheating at medical school. BMJ 2000;321:398.
pubmed.ncbi.nl...
4. Here’s the CNN story on the American Board of Radiology recalls scandal…
www.cnn.com/20...
5. Here’s the Medscape article on USMLE recalls…
(n.b., the reporter was actually working on this for a couple of weeks BEFORE the USMLE’s announcement!)
www.medscape.c...
6. Here’s a brief news article on AAMC v. Anyanwu… but if you want a really wild ride, look up the actual court filings.
copyright.byu....
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MUSIC:
‘Clutch’ - Nicolas Major.
You are the real Mitral Valve Prolapse
Thank you, @moose1265.
😂😂😂
How possible is that prometric centres in other parts of the world aren’t compromised here. If prometric global is involved, they should be releasing a statement regarding their own proctors. It is more serious than anyone thinks because it is a really high stakes exam with one time validity, and all these scandals just deviate/nullify one’s hardwork
I failed my first time around, it does pissed me off all the emotional pain and all the grit that I had to develop while people from India were practically cruising by … I remember going back to my old paramedic job after not passing … it was tough, walking back to my boss, and asking if I could go back until I get all these things sorted …
Is this a reference to brosencephalon 😂
When I clicked this video, I wanted to educate myself about the USMLE cheating scandal back home. At the end of the video, I felt I had a bird’s eyeview of the overall USMLE system. It helped me think, question and ruminate about so many things. Thank you for putting this together.
I scanned your other content too, looks well researched. You have earned a new subscriber.
Needless to say, I’m feeling a searing pain, first as a health professional and second as someone from Nepal.
Thank you for the kind words.
Thanks for a great video recap/summary.
I just wish NP tests and their boards took their testing and education as seriously.
One of my old med school profs worked at USMLE and he said that it costs several thousand dollars to develop a single question because it has to be agreed upon by many physicians. Probably why the qbank is so small.
Incredible, I enjoyed watching your video and I agree with your suggestions. I always wondered when you see someone with 260+ score are average when you have scientific discussion with them.
I think being average on scientific discussion is not a good marker for determining whether a person truly deserved a score or not. I know some of my med school classmates who were average in terms of knowledge and understanding but were excellent test takers both during med school exams and the USMLE!
Hey I love your videos keep it up! I noticed you have a high pitched hum on your voiceovers. You could fix that by bouncing your voiceover then using a noise gate and eq then doing a high cut on that voiceover track. Then you can put it back in your editor with no buzz or extraneous noise, you’ll have to experiment with the threshold for the gate and the frequency for the eq but since it’s the same frequency, it shouldnt be too hard.
Really appreciate you putting out a video like this, and shedding light on unfair means by candidates...it only hurts the people who goive their best and prepare fairly....and most of all the patients who woll be treated by these physicians.
You mentioned the story about the exam recalls for the American Board of Radiology exam several years prior. Have you heard from colleagues of similar recalls for any of the other specialty board examinations?I've heard how bad USMLE cheating is, but it was surprising for me to hear that it happens on specialty boards too.
You made your thoughts clear about the shortsightedness of folks who find it morally appropriate to cheat on an exam series that determines physician licensing. It makes me wonder if there is any legal recourse against individuals who get "caught" beyond board action.
Yes, I actually almost mentioned a court case in which the American Board of Internal Medicine sued an examinee who had contributed to an ABIM recall.
@@sheriffofsodium Looks like I have more case history to read. Throughout my education from college through grad and med school, I was always shook by the number of folks I met that were completely fine with cheating. I think the earlier they found it acceptable in school, the more likely they were to be completely fine cheating on exams designed to license physicians.
Keep up the great videos! As a big NBA fan who loves the history of the game, hearing you compare the outcome of the NBA-ABA merger to DO programs struck a chord.
Thank you for watching - and for the kind words. I’m not gonna lie, I thought that NBA-ABA, MD-DO analogy was a good one, too. And just in case anyone else happens by and wants to hear what we’re talking about, it’s at the end of this video:
Addressing Osteopathic Medicine’s Vulnerabilities: The View through an External Lens
th-cam.com/video/RC3pFmynxJQ/w-d-xo.html
Actually the cheating is their own weakness not examinees! Recall is done everywhere in world in every field examination. If usmle people weren't lazy and made like 5000 sets of questions I am sure even recalls wouldn't work. They are blaming examinees for their loopholes. In india there is always recalls of past exams published but yet it's so competitive. Studying recalls isn't cheating. I have not given usmle yet but I think if anyone those who accusess others for studying recalls as cheaters are the cheaters themselves. Coz everybody studies recalls just They dint got emails dint make them any much greater sort of human being. It's disgusting behavior! I knew some of my friends studied recalls religiously n dint got email from usmle n yet one friend of friend who dint do recall got email n that poor guy only got 218 in usmle lol. Their data isn't accurate to find cheaters. Everybody cheats dude if studying recalls is cheating
Just to get to a certain point, how cruel steps some people take instead of working hard, that can hurt other innocent people really sickens me.
I had my exam the day before yesterday, I worked hard, skipped family events, cried sometimes due to anxiety and then told myself “everything is gonna be alright”.
Now I feel bad for every IMG including myself, that how our reputation could be affected without doing anything.
I pray that everyone who did nothing wrong stay safe and get the fruit of their hardwork. Amen.
The issue with the USMLE is that a simple pass is not enough. As long you have cut offs based on a candidate's centile rank, you will incentivise cheating. As someone who sat the USMLE, I was always mindful that someone could recall test questions and circulate them to cheat. However, given the complexity and duration of this exam, I thought that a reliable cheating mechanism created by a candidate's recall would be hard to implement. The fact that this was successfully achieved highlights just how sophisticated and deeply engrained the cheating culture is. This is not just the case in Nepal but inevitably other countries too, including the US.
There are at least two questions from Step 2 that I could probably write down word-for-word, because I looked at them for so long in the test. I didn’t post them on the internet because 1) that’s not ethical and 2) ethics aside, USMLE openly told me that they’d invalidate my score if I did. The number of people defending the cheaters-many of them grad students who know what academic dishonesty is!-is horrifying to me.
Wooh really looking forward to this video!
Hope you like it!
@@sheriffofsodiumStop spreading lies Bryan Carmody. U are trying to hypothesize a single biased accusation and assumption that all Nepali examineess had access to entire usmle question bank. How is that even possible and practical? All your mathematics and statistics is based on proving your accussation and spreading lies. Do you even have knowledge that every exam performance depends on several factors including exam preparation time, hard work dedicqation , will power,questions attempted, enough sleep, rest, and several hundred of factors if everyone is studied . Do you even know there are many qualitiative factors associated with exam performance which cannnot be studied by mathematics and biostatistics? I will give you simple example as per your understanding with a single factor. How much do you think you will score again on step 1 examination if you are given 2 weeks preparation time? I doubt you will score more than 30/40%. Even a single factor ie exam preparation time is sufficent to dismiss your biased and presumed hyoothesis. Do you even know average time spent by Nepali applicants on each step exam is 1 year of dedicated study ,yes 12 hours a day for 365 days. How can you discredit high scores of Nepali by assuming that all Nepali have access to the several thousands of questions of usmle. It is racist ans false allegation and you are spreading it. What proofs and evidence do you have to talk about security breach from kathmandu? 1The prometric test center in Nepal is the highest secured prometric center in the world. Even smart phone is not allowed to take outside prometric center. No books and reading allowed in breaks and smart phones are taken by security guards on the gate.
Thank you for your insight.
In this case Nepal prometric center was not involved. Students just used recalls which are done everywhere. Usmle only detected this on the basis of similar answers on questions and improbable high score
It’s completely possible to catch cheaters this way, too. I discuss it here:
MORE Emergency Mailbag: The USMLE Cheating Scandal, Part II
th-cam.com/video/c5sRsi3Oyvg/w-d-xo.html
Stop spreading lies Bryan Carmody. U are trying to hypothesize a single biased accusation and assumption that all Nepali examineess had access to entire usmle question bank. How is that even possible and practical? All your mathematics and statistics is based on proving your accussation and spreading lies. Do you even have knowledge that every exam performance depends on several factors including exam preparation time, hard work dedicqation , will power,questions attempted, enough sleep, rest, and several hundred of factors if everyone is studied . Do you even know there are many qualitiative factors associated with exam performance which cannnot be studied by mathematics and biostatistics? I will give you simple example as per your understanding with a single factor. How much do you think you will score again on step 1 examination if you are given 2 weeks preparation time? I doubt you will score more than 30/40%. Even a single factor ie exam preparation time is sufficent to dismiss your biased and presumed hyoothesis. Do you even know average time spent by Nepali applicants on each step exam is 1 year of dedicated study ,yes 12 hours a day for 365 days. How can you discredit high scores of Nepali by assuming that all Nepali have access to the several thousands of questions of usmle. It is racist ans false allegation and you are spreading it. What proofs and evidence do you have to talk about security breach from kathmandu? 1The prometric test center in Nepal is the highest secured prometric center in the world. Even smart phone is not allowed to take outside prometric center. No books and reading allowed in breaks and smart phones are taken by security guards on the gate.
@@user-tx6dv3hf5z Why don't you stop spreading lies also. There are already statistics compiled by each country. Only Nepal test takers are scoring in the range of 260 the highest out of any country. (US is 247). And its a WIDE gap between all the scorers from every country and Nepal. Meaning the vast majority of Nepali test takers cheated, because when you look at the pattern of answers the NBME has deduced the chances of getting that pattern of questions correct is 1 in a million. Now other test takers who have done recalls either from Nepal or have their own rinks are being called into question (including Pakistan, India, and Jordan).
Did this extensive cheating affect other examinees’ score?I mean by raising the average score, they caused inflation of the minimum passing score and led many applicants fail and retest.Any thoughts?
how did this effect the exam average score and does it mean it could've skewed results for those with scores on the lower end/ borderline to fail due these high score outliers?
I think alot of academic programs will flat out dismiss those residents. Community program PDs might want to keep them or give them a second chance. Some schools have a very low tolerance for that kind of thing specially being an academic institute. I think USMLE should not have analyzed past tests only for the current year and moving forward. Its hard not to "cheat' if everyone else around you is doing it. how do you compete as IMG when every other IMG in your country is using recalls and have been doing so for years. your 240 is not enough when the bottoms in your class can get a 260+ easily with recall. This is unfair. current year or make an announcement going forward. The fact that recalls even exsist or are viable lies soley with USMLE. Make more questions and do not reuse 60% of the pool of questions. Do it like the MCAT. Make less test dates avilable. Protect the integrity of your tests so students do not have to use recalls to compete with classmates
I feel for you, but that just isn't feasible. Look, you agree to not "recall" or discuss test material and it is cheating for IMGs to use this "strategy". It is not feasible to have whole new question banks every year, these questions are very complex and very difficult to write. 280 insanely long vignettes with good distractors and clear answers that aren't debatable takes lots of time and money to do. Ensuring broad coverage of material is difficult. Expensive. It isn't that easy.
It's hard to find a competent resident. When I was in training not long ago there were those who were let's say not your best resident but they would always remediate and give second chances rather let them go. And this is someone who hasn't had any of this USMLE cheating issues. Losing a resident is huge for a program with all the schedule and rotation changes and coverage needed. If the resident is competent, I'm sure most will close one eye and move on rather than let the resident go. I'm not saying I condone cheating, but what I said above is just the reality of the situation at many places.
I agree - thank you for posting. I’ve heard from a couple of people who disagree with my prediction that some of these residents will land on their feet.
Per 11:01 - generally this is how social engineering is used - the person taking advantage of a weakness oft may make use of people not monitoring what they are supposed to monitor OR doing things with plausible deniability
What if an img takes step 2ck in usa ? Doesn’t it ensure that the score is legit . I think Usmle Step 2Ck should be conducted only in USA . Organised cheating won’t be possible in USA .
I agree, it’s easier to secure test centers in the US than overseas… but once a breach occurs and a high-fidelity recall exists, it can be studied and the test could be taken anywhere. Some of the cheating in this situation involved USMLE Step 3, which is only taken in the United States. If you want my explanation for how these cheaters were caught, check out Part 2:
MORE Emergency Mailbag: The USMLE Cheating Scandal, Part II
th-cam.com/video/c5sRsi3Oyvg/w-d-xo.html
Anyone wanting to cheat that has major stakes like a job making 6 figures after 3 years … these people will find a way … even in US
One of the unfortunate casualties of this circumstance will be a precise preordained system of justice distribution.
+/- 10 of the original score…
If you were unlucky enough to be included as a result of these proceedings unjustly… you are a victim of the cheaters who received their just reward.
We don’t have a justice system to deliver justice, we have one to prevent future crimes.
Simply put, higher score corresponds to how good a cheater is at stealing exam questions.
How about those from Nepal who’s score has not been invalid will they be considered for match? Or it ll affect their rol?
Anyone whose score is not invalidated can still participate in the Match… but as I mentioned, I think this scandal will damage the way that many programs look at them. Unfortunately, programs may look at the honest student from Nepal with a high USMLE score and wonder, “If I match this person… are they gonna lose their ECFMG certification once they get here?”
@@sheriffofsodium agreed the stupidity of some destroyed the dreams of many.
@@sheriffofsodium With average score from nepal is still wondering that previously my average score comparing to 100 of 280s shaked my confidence and now the scrutiny about nationality. Its like never ending rat race to prove oneself enough to practice as eligible health professional . What would you suggest In current scenario for those like me?
How far back did usmle go to invalidate ! Is this only scores of 2023 ? Or back to to 2019 ?
Hi doc random question, since the USMLE score is determined by previous usmd test takers, and given the fact that 2022 had one of the highest step1 failure rates…does this mean that 2023 exam taker had the easiest step1 exam in several years?
They also raised minimum pass score and as someone who took STEP 1 it was not easy.
I wonder if they are going to check previous years too
Yes - at least the past couple of years.
@@sheriffofsodium There was a person on Reddit who said his friend is having his exam invalidated. The physician is already an attending. So it seems like they maybe looking back quite a few years.
@@0doublezero0 The NBME’s response in their lawsuit acknowledged looking back only as far as 2021… but it seems like that timeline would be pushing it to Match and be finished with residency by this point.
Hope so
What is the need of asking the same questions in every exam?
is the content in medical education so limited that they cant modify the questions?
does not the correct answer suggest that they have the knowledge? how does it matter what source they used to achieve the knowledge? what matters is if they know or not.
or is it the standard books marketing is affected?
unless the camera records prove they cheated, how can we say the centre had security breaches?
Stop spreading lies Bryan Carmody. U are trying to hypothesize a single biased accusation and assumption that all Nepali examineess had access to entire usmle question bank. How is that even possible and practical? All your mathematics and statistics is based on proving your accussation and spreading lies. Do you even have knowledge that every exam performance depends on several factors including exam preparation time, hard work dedicqation , will power,questions attempted, enough sleep, rest, and several hundred of factors if everyone is studied . Do you even know there are many qualitiative factors associated with exam performance which cannnot be studied by mathematics and biostatistics? I will give you simple example as per your understanding with a single factor. How much do you think you will score again on step 1 examination if you are given 2 weeks preparation time? I doubt you will score more than 30/40%. Even a single factor ie exam preparation time is sufficent to dismiss your biased and presumed hyoothesis. Do you even know average time spent by Nepali applicants on each step exam is 1 year of dedicated study ,yes 12 hours a day for 365 days. How can you discredit high scores of Nepali by assuming that all Nepali have access to the several thousands of questions of usmle. It is racist ans false allegation and you are spreading it. What proofs and evidence do you have to talk about security breach from kathmandu? 1The prometric test center in Nepal is the highest secured prometric center in the world. Even smart phone is not allowed to take outside prometric center. No books and reading allowed in breaks and smart phones are taken by security guards on the gate.
Is it still affect if test centers taken out of nepal like India?
Advice for people who got their scores invalidated... - FORGET the USA. Its not the only place where you can make a difference and help people. Infact that is contraindicative at times. Go to another country or even better stay at nepal and help the people there. Nepal anyways needs you way more. Also please retrospect on these actions, hopefully you won't do this again. Trust me when I say this, if you continue this attempt in the USA nobody will give you another chance. (and to be honest you don't have the right to expect that either). Saying things that other kids do this, honestly doesn't help your personal case. This is the reality of the situation if a AMG cheats on the USMLE its an isolated issue and its percieved that way. If an IMG does the same its a whole new ball game. US medical schools will blame the entire country and its applicants inadvertantly. Lack of knowledge in regards to how medicine is practice in other parts of the world isnt a burden they need to carry. Unfortunately this affects all IMGs to an extent. I personally think that USMLE steps should be exams that are taken only in the United states, regardless of you being a IMG or AMG. This is will not completely avoid these problems but it will safegaurd individuals that don't commit these crimes.
It still boggles my mind why you wouldnt just understand the reasoning behind the questions if you're going to go out of your way to memorize the entire question bank
I wondered about that, too. I actually meant to say something along those lines. Clearly, these are bright students, who probably could have been successful if they’d just studied regular materials with the studied a textbook with the same intensity as they did USMLE recalls. It might have taken longer, and they almost certainly wouldn’t have scored a 280 - but they could have earned an opportunity in an U.S. residency program.
Whelp, I guess this is the upside of being an IMG with a 230 Step 2 CK. The PDs are going to be sure that I didn't cheat 😅
One thing I will disagree with you on the policies of medical programs. They will all have policies about moral and ethical clauses on termination of employment due to breaches of such policies. Lawyers will protect all programs and there residents will have no action possible.
Oh, I agree - most of these residents are screwed. But I’m aware of multiple situations involving in which institutions have struggled to dismiss residents with all types of misconduct. Rumor has it that several hundred examinees are impacted… I still think a few will manage to escape.
Why is it bad for all IMGs? I personally did all my steps in USA. Why would it affect me?
Because the questions know no borders
But arent all test takers going to be affected equally including the US MD.
We already know US MDs are preferred over IMG so i think it will stay as is.
because you are an IMG in the eyes of the PDs...
I tried to explain that at 16:43. The fact that some IMGs have cheated to obtain high scores will hurt IMGs who didn’t cheat but still have high scores. For some PDs, in some corner of their mind, they’re gonna wonder if the high score was earned or not. Obviously, this will hurt IMGs from Nepal the most, but I think other IMGs will suffer, too.
The USMLE invalidated the test score in centers outside Nepal, including the USA. In a center, only nationality is invalidated. This is unlawful.
The allegation is that these examinees had prior exposure to exam questions (i.e., ‘USMLE recalls’). Where they took the USMLE is irrelevant - what matters is the math/probability related to their performance as I explained in the video.
I agree that cheating in an exam must be penalized up to imprisonment. Study, study and study and collective study shall not be penalized. However, I strongly disagree that using mathematical equation methods to detect cheating among students is acceptable. I am not an IMG, but I also faced such problems in a European University in 1988 when I received the highest marks in every subject, having been given questions by other students. Despite retaking exams in some subjects, I still achieved the highest marks. Therefore, I humbly request the USMLE to collaborate with relevant government bodies to uncover the truth and penalize the culprits. Innocent students shall not be penalized.
@@sheriffofsodiumStop spreading lies Bryan Carmody. U are trying to hypothesize a single biased accusation and assumption that all Nepali examineess had access to entire usmle question bank. How is that even possible and practical? All your mathematics and statistics is based on proving your accussation and spreading lies. Do you even have knowledge that every exam performance depends on several factors including exam preparation time, hard work dedicqation , will power,questions attempted, enough sleep, rest, and several hundred of factors if everyone is studied . Do you even know there are many qualitiative factors associated with exam performance which cannnot be studied by mathematics and biostatistics? I will give you simple example as per your understanding with a single factor. How much do you think you will score again on step 1 examination if you are given 2 weeks preparation time? I doubt you will score more than 30/40%. Even a single factor ie exam preparation time is sufficent to dismiss your biased and presumed hyoothesis. Do you even know average time spent by Nepali applicants on each step exam is 1 year of dedicated study ,yes 12 hours a day for 365 days. How can you discredit high scores of Nepali by assuming that all Nepali have access to the several thousands of questions of usmle. It is racist ans false allegation and you are spreading it. What proofs and evidence do you have to talk about security breach from kathmandu? 1The prometric test center in Nepal is the highest secured prometric center in the world. Even smart phone is not allowed to take outside prometric center. No books and reading allowed in breaks and smart phones are taken by security guards on the gate.
Pakistan and Syria should be next
I strongly suspect we will see the USMLE turn their attention to other areas soon.
I know this definitely happens in Pakistan/India atleast with GRE, the people who own the centers let others take exams on behalf of the candidate for 1-2k dollars. I was shocked when I got to know about this. Getting in to undergrad medical school is hard in India so I don’t except Indians will fall into this category but with other Asian countries it’s totally possible
Yes first India,then Pakistan and everybody else around the world should be checked each and every one should be and fair decision should be applied for everyone..this kind of question discussing actually started from India and Pakistan and widely spreaded to other countries as well and today almost this is happening everywhere..but there are many pd's from India and Pakistan even in usmle and nbme committee and many imgs Indian Pakistanis docter,without them our health system will surely get affected or in worst case may be collapsed. So i don't think theyare gonna do the same for rest..they are just targeting the small countries that would not affect them..that would just frighten the rest and gives message that USMLE is too strict and could go to any extent in such scenarios but will never do the same to the giants that will affect them even though they might invalidate of some Indian and Pakistan candidates just to say they are doing their job everywhere else as well but will not point out the whole country as they are doing now with nepal
@@sheriffofsodiumwell i don’t know what sooner or later is but definitely 26 feb got people from Pakistan a surprise too. It’s everywhere sadly. The policy need modifications
If the questions were sold on line why only Nepal was effected Then anyone could have bought
Stop spreading lies Bryan Carmody. U are trying to hypothesize a single biased accusation and assumption that all Nepali examineess had access to entire usmle question bank. How is that even possible and practical? All your mathematics and statistics is based on proving your accussation and spreading lies. Do you even have knowledge that every exam performance depends on several factors including exam preparation time, hard work dedicqation , will power,questions attempted, enough sleep, rest, and several hundred of factors if everyone is studied . Do you even know there are many qualitiative factors associated with exam performance which cannnot be studied by mathematics and biostatistics? I will give you simple example as per your understanding with a single factor. How much do you think you will score again on step 1 examination if you are given 2 weeks preparation time? I doubt you will score more than 30/40%. Even a single factor ie exam preparation time is sufficent to dismiss your biased and presumed hyoothesis. Do you even know average time spent by Nepali applicants on each step exam is 1 year of dedicated study ,yes 12 hours a day for 365 days. How can you discredit high scores of Nepali by assuming that all Nepali have access to the several thousands of questions of usmle. It is racist ans false allegation and you are spreading it. What proofs and evidence do you have to talk about security breach from kathmandu? 1The prometric test center in Nepal is the highest secured prometric center in the world. Even smart phone is not allowed to take outside prometric center. No books and reading allowed in breaks and smart phones are taken by security guards on the gate.
@@user-tx6dv3hf5z I hope you’ll read this response and listen to what I am saying: if you have evidence of cheating rings in the United States, PLEASE submit them to the NBME. You can do this anonymously through their STOP IT app. The USMLE began investigating Nepal only because they received tips about what was occurring there. If you - or anyone else out there reading this - has credible evidence of cheating occurring elsewhere, PLEASE submit it to them.
It’s not possible for someone to score 270 w/o knowing answers… not even seasoned board cert physicians can’t score that high
Most programs directors are IMGs
I agree that few - if any - practicing physicians could score a 270. But these days, many applicants do score >270. According to their last data, a 270 was at the 96th percentile for a reference group of first-time test takers from U.S. MD-granting medical schools - and with ~24,000 examinees in that group per year, that would mean there are around 1000 students with scores at that level or higher, just from that group.
Either one will get high or low score it depends upon the how much they know about the study materials...So, can't nepali get high score? i feel like how they behave to Galileo Galileiz, they are behaving same way to Nepali student. If you they think nepali can't score means high means they should get low marks and nepali should igore the questions that they already know..?????????????????//
Everybody cheats only few got emails. 😂
Stop spreading lies Bryan Carmody. U are trying to hypothesize a single biased accusation and assumption that all Nepali examineess had access to entire usmle question bank. How is that even possible and practical? All your mathematics and statistics is based on proving your accussation and spreading lies. Do you even have knowledge that every exam performance depends on several factors including exam preparation time, hard work dedicqation , will power,questions attempted, enough sleep, rest, and several hundred of factors if everyone is studied . Do you even know there are many qualitiative factors associated with exam performance which cannnot be studied by mathematics and biostatistics? I will give you simple example as per your understanding with a single factor. How much do you think you will score again on step 1 examination if you are given 2 weeks preparation time? I doubt you will score more than 30/40%. Even a single factor ie exam preparation time is sufficent to dismiss your biased and presumed hyoothesis. Do you even know average time spent by Nepali applicants on each step exam is 1 year of dedicated study ,yes 12 hours a day for 365 days. How can you discredit high scores of Nepali by assuming that all Nepali have access to the several thousands of questions of usmle. It is racist ans false allegation and you are spreading it. What proofs and evidence do you have to talk about security breach from kathmandu? 1The prometric test center in Nepal is the highest secured prometric center in the world. Even smart phone is not allowed to take outside prometric center. No books and reading allowed in breaks and smart phones are taken by security guards on the gate.
No, we all don’t cheat.
Say it for yourself, recalls are not even a concept in Latin America
taking pictures of it and selling would be a recall too, doesn't have to be from memory and it doesn't matter because all of that probably goes to the same people...
The math explanation is stupid...that's not actual proof. What did they compare to, not everyone took it more than once or took any of the sample tests or whatever? Btw I am glad they were caught and I hope a lot more are revealed from other countries too. People have been complaining about nepal for months now on reddit, a lot of people reported them and a lot of them probably didn't use a different phone number or email...
If you think it’s ‘stupid,’ you may want to read the paper I mentioned, or at least think it through a little bit.
If an examinee answers 100% of one subset of questions right, but only answers 50% of another subset of questions right… and the only difference between those subsets is that one is known to be for sale and the other isn’t… and the probability that such a difference could occur by random chance is somewhere between less than 1 in 10,000 to less than in 100 MILLION… yet somehow, this happened to multiple examinees simultaneously… how would YOU explain that?
@@sheriffofsodium so what? I already said I don't care if they invalidate their scores. I am talking about the method. That doesn't prove anything, it just gives you a list of suspects maybe that's it. And as you mentioned on the validation test most likely no one will be scoring the same score if it wasn't within a month, not adding stress etc.
Lemme ask you a different question, then.
Suppose I took two coins. I repeatedly flip one, for X trials, and it lands on heads 100% of the time. I repeatedly flip the other, for Y trials, and it lands on heads 50% of the time. You do a little math and calculate that the odds of this occurring by chance are less than 1 in 10 million or less (which is the probability quoted by the USMLE to one of the examinees in their notification letter).
Would you believe that these were fair coins? Would you still say that the math was stupid and doesn’t prove anything? If so, I’m curious… what kind of proof would you require to convince you that these coins are not equivalent, and how would you acquire that proof?
doesn't matter...statistically may make sense, but it's not proof. ECFMG of course can do whatever they want but this isn't enough if courts are involved, not even close. @@sheriffofsodium
@@RetiredMillennial How would you feel if you hadn't had breakfast this morning?