Northern Ontario med school students facing 'uphill battle' as online exams hit snag

Dr. Sarita Verma, the dean and president of the Northern Ontario School of Medicine, says the future of many med school students in northern Ontario is in question after technical glitches caused havoc during a mandatory exam.

The Medical Council of Canada Qualifying Examination Part 1is required to be completed by medical school graduatesduring or before residency.

It's one of the two key exams in a doctor's career, Verma said.

"They're entering into a stage of their careers which, as a transition, is amongthe most stressful transitions in medical careers," Verma said.

Dealing with an unreliable third-party platform has put extra pressure on the health sector's newest doctors,who don't know if the glitches will affect their exam results.

She said the rigours of preparing for and then taking a nine-hour exam pushes students to their limits.

"There's a higher rate of depression, anxiety and suicide during this time and we're very concerned about these kids."

The exam is administered by Prometric, a U.S. company.

More than 7,000 students have applied to take the exam, a third of them online. But the process has been hit with claims of technical glitches and communication failures, something Prometric has not been able to fix.

She's now pushing for students to get a full refund for the cost of the exam.

"I do believe that the students feel strongly that not only should all of this be remediated, but the students feel that they should also receive a refund of the $1300 that they pay."

For her part, Verma said she is in frequent contact with the Medical Council of Canada, hoping to get a thorough assessment of the situation.

The company, Prometric, said they are looking into the issue, but so far students taking the online exams have more questions.

"We have a situation in Canada where accessibility to family doctors and to doctors, generally, is often a fragile environment," she said.

"At NOSM we graduated 55 doctors this year and we want to get them into the system because they're sorely needed, especially in the north," Verma said.

"Add to that the fact that they may not actually pass their exam for all these reasons an exam that's non-negotiable for them. So it just continues to be an uphill battle."