Don’t Let the Admin Grind You Down
Although I tend to accentuate the positive aspects of my med school experience, it’s not all sunshine and roses. One of the sobering, souring aspects of the Ross experience is the way the administration interacts with the student body. Sometimes, it can seem like they are acting without the students’ best interest in mind. Other times, it can seem like they are being downright cruel. And yet others, it’s as if they don’t think things through thoroughly before they act.
Case in point: recently, we were made aware of NBME allegations that a shelf exam was compromised and that students at some other Caribbean med school pointed the finger at Ross (mind you, students at Ross haven’t yet taken any shelf exams). At the request of the NBME, Ross will not be administering one of the four shelf exams it usually gives to the current second semesters. In addition, they decided to punish the second semester students by shifting around their Fortnight of Hell exam schedules not once, but twice, in a 24 hour period. The first arrangement put their Mini III exam in the middle of the other shelf exams, giving them less than a week to prepare for everything. The current arrangement is less evil but still pretty brutal. In addition, all students have now been forbidden to use mechanical pencils to mark answers in exams. Yes, folks, it’s good ol’ Ticonderoga wooden pencils for us. All this on allegations and rumors. Seriously?!
Frankly, I’m not pleased with any part of the situation. I don’t know if there’s any foundation behind these rumors but I do not appreciate what it may mean for all Ross students, past, present and future, who already must combat the stigma associated with attending an offshore school, and now, questionable academic integrity as well. I want my degree to mean something when I finally get it; we all work too hard to be tarred by finger-pointing without any sort of proof. I understand that the administration doesn’t want our reputation as an institution to suffer and because of that, it has slammed down an iron fist.
On the other hand, I have several second semester friends who just about had aneuryms when all of this went down between yesterday and today. With all the stress of exams, do they really need all of this too? Is it really fair to punish everyone for the suspected wrongdoing of one individual?
The worst thing about a rumor is that it doesn’t have to be true. Even if it’s proven false, it still lingers in people’s minds. Even so, I hope it is entirely false and that when the NBME finds out who was really behind what happens, they deal with the matter accordingly and leave us out of it. As for the situation with the admin, when it comes down to it, there isn’t much that students can do but comply. Oh well. If any second semesters read this humble blog, I wish you all the best during the next couple of weeks. Study hard and don’t get discouraged. You can make it through.
May 13, 2009 at 10:53 am
Dude… it’s not a rumor. I am at Ross and I KNOW these shelfs are around. Since not a single person can be singled out, everyone pays. Unfair, but no school will dismiss about 50% of their student body, which is what would happen if they REALLY dig into everyone’s hard drive. Sad… but true.
May 13, 2009 at 11:06 am
Dude…I am also at Ross. I didn’t say the files don’t exist (I’ve mentioned their existence previously on this blog). I just didn’t believe they originated at Ross. However, I recently heard that the exam booklet ID number was visible in the pictures taken of the histo shelf that was compromised and that is what was used by the NBME to trace the files back to a Ross student. I still don’t believe that Ross is a bastion of cheating and I don’t believe for a second that other schools don’t have illegal files circulating among their students. Sad…but probably true.
Besides, just because the files exist doesn’t mean that one has to use them. I didn’t and I’ve made it to 4th without them.