Sent on behalf of Dr. Esther Kim, May 19 2021
Dear Colleague,
Yesterday the Medical Council of Canada commenced their virtual delivery of the MCCQE2 exams.
By the afternoon, we heard reports from several exam candidates of serious problems with the administration of the exam. While we are still collecting stories, I can tell you that in some instances, Standardized Patients and Examiners were not present, making it impossible for the candidate to complete the station. We understand that some candidates were given an opportunity to repeat the station during the lunch hour, while others were not. In some instances, candidates had this happen more than once and were told that their exam was being cancelled. In other instances, the examiner disconnected from the network and despite the candidate completing the station with the full understanding that the session was being recorded, they were subsequently told that the video recording would not be used to score the station and that it would need to be repeated.
We immediately reached out to the Medical Council of Canada to ascertain the nature of the problems encountered, the magnitude of the problem and more importantly, the approach the MCC would take to offset their inability to deliver the exam with high fidelity. Resident concerns were brought to the MCC by RDoC on numerous occasions prior to yesterday. In our previous meetings with the MCC Senior Leadership we outlined all of the issues that we felt needed to be addressed to deliver a successful virtual experience. The MCC reassured us that contingency plans would be in place to ensure successful virtual delivery this Spring.
I can assure you that RDoC will advocate strenuously on behalf of our members, both past and present, who have found themselves in this current situation. The Medical Council of Canada’s main purpose is to administer exams and throughout the pandemic, they have failed to do so in a consistent and reliable manner. We are exploring all options to ensure that candidates’ interests are well represented.
If you experience any problems with sitting the exams, please email covid19@residentdoctors.ca and provide us with the details of your experience. It is critical that we be able to understand your experiences. For those of you who are waiting to sit the exam, we understand how stressful this situation is and we want everyone to know that we find this completely unacceptable. As mentioned before, we are exploring all options to ensure that you are well represented and that your needs and concerns are addressed as soon as possible.
We understand the urgency of dealing with this situation given the ongoing schedule of exams and I will be providing updates as new information becomes available.
Warm regards,
Esther Kim, MD
RDoC President