failed lmcc part 2 by one point

[confusedresident]

Hi all

 

I am a Canadian family medicine resident. I found out I failed lmcc 2 by one point (pass is 509, i got 508). After the initial shock and disbelieve. I reached out to my program for support but they dont really have any other resources for me aside from the ones I used to prepare (Canada q bank, prev questions, practicing with fellow residents.) It is quite shocking to me because I thought the exam day went pretty well. I now feel very ashamed and unworthy. What makes this even worse is that I did the best I can to prepare. I started a month in advance. I did all the Canada q bank questions. I did previous exam questions. I practiced 3-4 times a week for a month with fellow residents. Non of which said I had performed poorly, quite the contrary even. So even if I were to take the test again I am not sure what I did wrong and what I can improve on. This is quite distressing, I am not sure what to do....

[Alphonsine]

Hi I sent you a pM. Please reply to it

[Alphonsine]

Also in residency. Also didn't pass. I don't know what happened. I need to see my score report and know what to improve on for next time.

[p76acw]

Same. Same. 504.

What are you going to do? What' tte ccances they'll change the mark? 

I had heard last year there was a huge reassessment of the marks and an email went out indicating a number of questions were removed, subsequently changing final marks. 

I'm praying that's the case this time. 

So disheartened. 

[rmorelan]

Gezz sorry to hear about the results - seems like a lot of good people still have an off day for that test resulting in just not quite reaching the target. You would think with a relatively subjective test they would have some respect for scores that are "close".

[Mithril]

If your score is above 500 but not a passing mark I would definitely contest the score. There's always a chance that your marks will change. However, I wouldn't count on it. I know someone who scored a 507 or something, i.e., a fail, when I wrote part 2 and their score stayed the same. It's important to know where you think you could've done better or what topics need brushing up on. Part 2 is very geared towards generalist medicine and there seems to be an emphasis in interpersonal skills such as communication and empathy over the years as indicated by the marking scheme on their website.

 

So yeah, if your score is borderline, contest it. It saves a lot of headache if your dispute is successful and you don't have to apply for provisional licensure.

[holiday1001]

one thing you don't realize until you write it is how heavily checklist-based the exam scoring is. if you watch the examiners after you finish your stations, the entire marking sheet is a scantron sheet; there is a giant list of items, you simply get a tick box if you ask something. it gets a little anxiety-provoking when you're wrapping up your station and you see a whole section that remains un-checked

[confusedresident]

Im not sure what i can improve on

im in family practice and i got the diagnoses right. In practice i had the same approach in physical exam and history taking as my peers who passed

im not sure whatw ent wrong, the feedback form they provided is not helpful at all

[Mithril]

You should take a look at how the stations are scored to see where you could've gone wrong.

http://mcc.ca/examinations/mccqe-part-ii/scoring/

http://mcc.ca/media/Exams-interaction-rating-scale-items.pdf

 

[goleafsgochris]

Yeah there is apparently marks given for weird med school basic type stuff.  Like asking a patient if they have any allergies gets you a point of taking a history.  It sounds dumb but look at the basic "how to take a history" stuff and there is apparently points for all those things, like habits, social history, medications etc--stuff you might think is obvious or not relevant definitely gets you points.

[rmorelan]

On 12/12/2017 at 11:53 AM, goleafsgochris said:

Yeah there is apparently marks given for weird med school basic type stuff.  Like asking a patient if they have any allergies gets you a point of taking a history.  It sounds dumb but look at the basic "how to take a history" stuff and there is apparently points for all those things, like habits, social history, medications etc--stuff you might think is obvious or not relevant definitely gets you points.

I always wondered how possible it was to get a perfect score on a station because of that - not because you don't know the steps but that a full basic history would take longer than the station time has allocated. 

[Mithril]

1 hour ago, rmorelan said:

I always wondered how possible it was to get a perfect score on a station because of that - not because you don't know the steps but that a full basic history would take longer than the station time has allocated. 

In the CCFP exam you can get "perfect" on a station if you get at least 50% of the bullet points for all the major points of a history you should be covering.

[rmorelan]

2 hours ago, Mithril said:

In the CCFP exam you can get "perfect" on a station if you get at least 50% of the bullet points for all the major points of a history you should be covering.

ha - I wonder if it is the same with the LMCC part 2. I mean I always laughed about the list of things you are "supposed" to do in 10 mins. I had one station that involved a rather complex neuro exam along with a neuro history. Not really possible I thought. Technically an abdominal exam requires listening for bowel sounds for quite some time (although often I suspect they would wave you through that part). 

[jdog101]

I know lots of people that failed. I actually wonder what the failure rate is now that they raised the pass score. There are huge time constraints. I was thinking in real life I would spend 30 min on most of those stations.

[p76acw]

On 1/6/2018 at 9:48 PM, jdog101 said:

I know lots of people that failed. I actually wonder what the failure rate is now that they raised the pass score. There are huge time constraints. I was thinking in real life I would spend 30 min on most of those stations.

I dont know anyone other than myself that failed. 

Im still dealing with that fact.
I had requested them to re-examine my test and they still kept it as a fail so am re-writing in may. 

Am embarrassed in myself just because of the stigma that everyone passes so therefore there must be something fundamentally wrong with me. 

[goleafsgochris]

1 hour ago, awoodman87 said:

I dont know anyone other than myself that failed. 

Im still dealing with that fact.
I had requested them to re-examine my test and they still kept it as a fail so am re-writing in may. 

Am embarrassed in myself just because of the stigma that everyone passes so therefore there must be something fundamentally wrong with me. 

I realize its too late likely in your situation, but advice for others:  if you fail either of the LMCC exams, you are under no obligation to tell anyone, and to be honest I probably would not.  As you pointed out, even though the tests are nonsense and there shouldn't be a stigma, there definitely is a stigma.  Its like matching to carms, failing med school exams, royal college, etc etc, even though failing is possible and even somewhat random at times; ACTUALLY failing for sure carries a stigma.  

[p76acw]

2 minutes ago, goleafsgochris said:

I realize its too late likely in your situation, but advice for others:  if you fail either of the LMCC exams, you are under no obligation to tell anyone, and to be honest I probably would not.  As you pointed out, even though the tests are nonsense and there shouldn't be a stigma, there definitely is a stigma.  Its like matching to carms, failing med school exams, royal college, etc etc, even though failing is possible and even somewhat random at times; ACTUALLY failing for sure carries a stigma.  

I did not tell my program. I told a few select friends.

My concern is that when I apply for subspecialty matching they usually require lmcc marks. sure i can write it and likely pass but i dont know if the previous attempt will still show up to the schools i apply to

[goleafsgochris]

I know someone who failed, she only sent the most recent LMCC grades (when she passed) when applying to subspecialty match.  I don't think anyone noticed.  That being said I'm not sure what the actual policies are on whether they directly tell you to send all attempts or not.

[Nomy]

I was unsuccessful by only 1 mark in MCCQE 2I  . Can anyone tell me what should be the format for appeal. any one of you had have positive response from MCC. Thank you 

[bearded frog]

Unless there were irregularities, you just ask and pay for a remark. Probably same outcome, but you never know?