Five Hours Later

It just gets better and better....

Today I spent two hours taking a pathology test, just to have the computer system block the remaining test questions (about 40 total) meaning myself and the rest of my class had to spend another two hours retaking the test (120 USMLE type questions with an impossible difficulty level and in terrible English- it makes USMLE world look like a cake walk).

You'd think this would be fine and dandy, and it would have been, had I remembered the reasoning I had used for the test the first time I had taken it! It also would have been nice if I had been as alert as I had been the first time I started. I was falling asleep by the end of my first go around! By the end of it all, I was just picking answers because I could barely see the screen and really didn't care. I hadn't eaten yet so on top of being totally exhausted from spending the previous night cramming, getting up at six to study more, then going to class from 8am till noon only to have to go right to the test right from class- I WAS STARVING. So when I got out of the exam at 5:30 I was not a happy camper.

On top of it there was a five year old girl prancing up and down the aisle between the desks and the TA's were involved in a riveting conversation.

This place needs to get it's head out of it's &$(#*. If they want us to be successful, they're gonna have to give us something to work with. If we're supposed to take a test on the computer there needs to be someone there that knows how the computer system works, in case something like this happens!!! Additionally, because we're taking a test EVERYONE should be expected to keep their yappers shut!

On a final note, if 40 people in a class of 50 fail a test (and no one who does pass does well) it should reflect badly on the teaching style and those in charge of the teaching; clearly something isn't working. Failing everyone does not make better doctors, teaching us what we need to know and how to apply it to real life situations is the hallmark of a good teacher. I'll let you know if we ever get one who's allowed to do more than stand in the corner and bow to the great head of the department - and no I'm not just talking about patho.