So as most of you guys know I'm in medical school, and with that comes taking a lot of tests
Medical students take tests in school, and also licensing tests outside of school
There are 2 tests we take at special centers called "STEP" tests (idek what that stands for tbh)
These are taken at prometric sites, basically a testing center that uses biometric data (finger print, photographs etc) to make sure it is actually you who is taking an exam. This is necessary because medicine is so lucrative, and these exams are so hard, that without these safeguards many people would simply pay dedicated test takers to complete their tests for them (you could probably make millions doing this)
I hate these test centers btw, they fingerprint you during every break, watch you on cameras, pat you down etc (it's nanners)
Anyhow we tolerate it because we have to, and pay hundreds of dollars for this bs
now covid comes into play. Tests have been cancelled en masse. I have registered several times, and then bam, test gets cancelled as the covid situation develops more and more.
I finally had a test date today. It didn't get cancelled. The only place I could get a spot was 3.5 hours away. So I drove there last night, and paid for a hotel. (I slept like crap through the night btw)
I wake up at 6am, get ready, head to the test, put my mask on (mandated).
As I arrive, three guys are standing outside. That's not a good sign. I ask them what's up. We are supposed to arrive 30 minutes early to get finger printed. They say no one is there. WTF we got confirmation literally the night before.
At this point I had basically lost hope of taking the exam that day, but I decided to wait around to see what would happen. I begin to talk to the other guys.
Turns out we all drove from out of state. One guy 9 hours from New York. What is this BS. We chat about our state's response to the pandemic.
A nurse walks past into the center, we ask her "Hey, do you work here? What's going on with the tests?" - she gives us a blank stare and says she has no clue, she just manages the building (which houses several other learning centers)
Fastforward a bit, she is calling around - and about 30 minutes past my exam's start time she gives us a phone number. It's the prometric test center admin's home phone number (still have no clue how she managed to get ahold of this). I call him because it so happens the other 3 med students don't speak english as a first language (Italian, Arabic, Spanish).
The guy basically says no hope of taking the test, we should have been notified. And he was sorry but, we will have to reschedule.
Everyone looked so depressed. The guy who drove from New York had already bought a 4 day hotel room (he was already a doctor and taking a beefier test that's 2 days, half friday and half monday)
So we took selfies to prove we were there, exchanged numbers, and we were off.
So here I am, drove 3.5 hours home, no test results in hand. I have to schedule again, and hope it doesn't get cancelled again. $130 poorer due to travel and hotel.
And to top it off? I can't even reschedule right now. I am currently marked as failing to show up to my test. I have sent off quite a few angry emails, but sadly probably no reply til monday.
tl;dr if you are a masochist have I got the career for you
Medical students take tests in school, and also licensing tests outside of school
There are 2 tests we take at special centers called "STEP" tests (idek what that stands for tbh)
These are taken at prometric sites, basically a testing center that uses biometric data (finger print, photographs etc) to make sure it is actually you who is taking an exam. This is necessary because medicine is so lucrative, and these exams are so hard, that without these safeguards many people would simply pay dedicated test takers to complete their tests for them (you could probably make millions doing this)
I hate these test centers btw, they fingerprint you during every break, watch you on cameras, pat you down etc (it's nanners)
Anyhow we tolerate it because we have to, and pay hundreds of dollars for this bs
now covid comes into play. Tests have been cancelled en masse. I have registered several times, and then bam, test gets cancelled as the covid situation develops more and more.
I finally had a test date today. It didn't get cancelled. The only place I could get a spot was 3.5 hours away. So I drove there last night, and paid for a hotel. (I slept like crap through the night btw)
I wake up at 6am, get ready, head to the test, put my mask on (mandated).
As I arrive, three guys are standing outside. That's not a good sign. I ask them what's up. We are supposed to arrive 30 minutes early to get finger printed. They say no one is there. WTF we got confirmation literally the night before.
At this point I had basically lost hope of taking the exam that day, but I decided to wait around to see what would happen. I begin to talk to the other guys.
Turns out we all drove from out of state. One guy 9 hours from New York. What is this BS. We chat about our state's response to the pandemic.
A nurse walks past into the center, we ask her "Hey, do you work here? What's going on with the tests?" - she gives us a blank stare and says she has no clue, she just manages the building (which houses several other learning centers)
Fastforward a bit, she is calling around - and about 30 minutes past my exam's start time she gives us a phone number. It's the prometric test center admin's home phone number (still have no clue how she managed to get ahold of this). I call him because it so happens the other 3 med students don't speak english as a first language (Italian, Arabic, Spanish).
The guy basically says no hope of taking the test, we should have been notified. And he was sorry but, we will have to reschedule.
Everyone looked so depressed. The guy who drove from New York had already bought a 4 day hotel room (he was already a doctor and taking a beefier test that's 2 days, half friday and half monday)
So we took selfies to prove we were there, exchanged numbers, and we were off.
So here I am, drove 3.5 hours home, no test results in hand. I have to schedule again, and hope it doesn't get cancelled again. $130 poorer due to travel and hotel.
And to top it off? I can't even reschedule right now. I am currently marked as failing to show up to my test. I have sent off quite a few angry emails, but sadly probably no reply til monday.
tl;dr if you are a masochist have I got the career for you
