USMLE Rolls Out App for Reporting Potential Exam Security Violations
Posted September 17th, 2021 by Dennis Abramson.
Categories: ECFMG, Medical Licensing, NBME, NRMP, USMLE.
Among the goals listed on its website, the USMLE Program strives “to assure fairness and equity to physicians through the highest professional testing standards”. If an examinee possesses unauthorized examination content, that examinee gains an unfair advantage over other examinees and, more importantly, may pass an examination that they would not have passed in the absence of possessing such content. The USMLE Office of Secretariat is the USMLE Program’s investigative arm, and, among other things, investigates improprieties or irregularities that may occur before, during, and after the administration of a USMLE exam. (For more information, see our prior blog post on “Defining Irregular Behavior (USMLE)”.) With advances in technology, unscrupulous examinees and prospective examinees have simultaneously become more sophisticated and more brazen when seeking and sharing unauthorized examination content, often through social media sites (e.g., Facebook) and document/file sharing applications (e.g., Telegram). USMLE is well aware of the mediums on which examinees are seeking and sharing examination content, and brings to bear its substantial financial resources and clout when investigating potential rule violations.
As part of its ongoing efforts to combat cheating and maintain the integrity of its examinations, USMLE recently announced that it has developed an app, available in the Google Play and Apple stores, where individuals can anomalously provide tips to USMLE about suspected security violations. A link to download the app, dubbed “STOPit”, can be found here.
As demonstrated by its development of an app to fight breaches in examination security, the USMLE Program takes matters regarding the integrity of its examinations very seriously. If, for any reason, you find yourself uncertain as to whether certain conduct may be considered irregular behavior, our office can assist. If you find yourself accused of having engaged irregular behavior, having skilled, experienced counsel familiar with USMLE Policies and Procedures, its CIR, and the rights of individuals accused of irregular behavior can make the difference between a successful and unsuccessful outcome.
