Incoming Level 2 PE/CCC - the NBOME needs to change.
The NBOME report regarding the future of Level 2 PE and alternative implementation of the assessment is a joke. I've read it and it seems the overwhelming feedback received from stakeholders is that it is a net negative and imposes yet another undue burden on osteopathic medical students and is a duplicative measure that is already being assessed by medical schools as required in the accreditation process.
The narrative by NBOME is to undercut all of the input and arguments with what is clearly a pre-determined bias. For example, one of their conclusions is
"Students do NOT want a national examination (other stakeholders do)".
Another example:
"The commissioners generally supported the notion that, as osteopathic physicians, it is appropriate that we expect more from our professional members; therefore, it is not necessary for us to “be the same as” MDs with respect to our licensing examination requirements. Our larger mission is what is in the best interest of patients, and aligning our assessments to the distinctive practice of osteopathic medicine. Short-term pressures on our students to succeed should not result in decisions that may have long-term consequences with respect to patient care."
We already expect more from our professional members and we are NOT the same as MDs. We have to complete extra training, we often have to also take the STEP exams, we face bias in the residency process, and we have not excised the clear pseudoscience from our curricula.
I am not trying to be an MD; I am trying to have a level playing field. I am tired of the extra taxes that I have to pay to become a physician and serve my community. NBOME is clearly full of people with a preconceived bias holding on to ideals that refuse to evolve. This is a money grab and a willful ignorance of input from the profession. We owe it to those coming after us to do what we can to change this field for the better. NBOME is clearly fighting an identity crisis and rather than evolve the identity, they are trying to go backwards in time. We need change.
Vent over.