Recently, osteopathic OB/GYN residency applicants were completely let down by NBOME when COMLEX exam results were mistakenly sent to residency programs. This is a huge concern for med students, as programs are only supposed to see a pass/fail result.
How will this mistake affect ResidencyCAS applicants? This is what happened, as well as the implications for residency applicants.
COMLEX Medical Exam Score Leak
The NBOME, the National Board of Osteopathic Medical Examiners, is the osteopathic version of the NBME. They’re the ones who are in control of the Match process.
This is a screenshot of an email from NBOME to a student who was affected.
The students affected were using ResidencyCas, which is one of the three main residency application services, which are:
- ERAS
- SF Match
- ResidencyCAS
ERAS stands for Electronic Residency Application Service. It’s the main application service that most residency programs use. ResidencyCas is the newest of the three, and it’s currently only for OB/GYN students.
COMLEX Level 1 is the equivalent of USMLE Step 1 for DO students. Both USMLE Step 1 and COMLEX Level 1 are now pass/fail.
NBOME reported a Level 1 three-digit score in addition to a pass/fail result to ResidencyCas.
Three-digit scores are not supposed to be reported by NBOME; however, the score was transmitted to ResidencyCas by mistake, which made these scores available to OB/GYN Program Directors for a full week. The official pass/fail result was updated in ResidencyCas by NBOME but not without significant consequence.
The message to students from NBOME said that they “reached out to OB/GYN Program Directors, informing them of this error on the part of our NBOME reporting and advised them that COMLEX-USA Level 1 examination results reports as Pass/Fail are the only official reports of Level 1 results. Any prior information (including three-digit scores) regarding Level 1 examinations taken after May 1, 2022 should not be utilized in any decisions on interviewing or matching candidates.”
How the Leak Affects OB/GYN Residency Applicants
So, why is this a big deal?
If you’re studying for a pass/fail exam as a medical student, you simply want to pass. There is little utility in trying to do as well as possible. Back when Level 1 and Step 1 were numerically graded, you would of course want to get the highest score possible because that made you a more competitive candidate.
Now Level 2 and Step 2 are the new Step 1. A great deal of emphasis and importance is placed on those scores, which come after your third year of medical school.
Pressure is far reduced on Level 1 and Step 1, which results in a great deal of variation in the scores. Passing is a pretty low bar, so many students aren’t going to overstudy and pass by a massive margin. That added time and effort isn’t worth it when they could be spending their precious time on other key aspects of their application, such as research.
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Again, because the residency programs should only see a pass or fail, students are only trying to achieve a pass, not the highest score possible. NBOME is saying, “Whoops! Our bad. We weren’t supposed to send them. But don’t worry; we’ve asked Program Directors to disregard the scores we sent.”
The issue is if a residency Program Director looks at two identical candidates who both successfully passed but one has a much higher COMLEX Level 1 numeric score than the other, they’re going to see the higher scoring student as more appealing. The student who achieved a higher score will be seen as an overall better investment for the program.
Even though NBOME asked Program Directors to disregard the data, it can be tough to unsee what you’ve already seen, and who knows whether or not all PDs will choose to comply? Whether they consider the scores or not, no residency program is going to admit they are unfairly taking these scores into consideration because of the heat that would come back on them.
When the affected students took COMLEX Level 1, they were expecting it to be pass/fail. They weren’t expecting their numeric score would ever be seen or ever matter when it came time to apply to residency.
To make matters worse, so far, NBOME has not released COMLEX scores to the students who were affected by the system error. That means Program Directors have seen a student’s score, but the student has not. Therefore, students have no idea if the result may positively or negatively impact their chances.
Considering how stressful and important the Match process is for med students, this is yet another hurdle. At the very least, it shows negligence from NBOME. The consequences of the system error are still unfolding, and it’s unclear whether or not there will be any additional consequences for NBOME’s massive mistake.
Learn more from the recent video on Dr. Jubbal’s personal YouTube channel. We’ll be sure to update this post if any major developments unfold.
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