By: Tonya Mead, CFE, PI, MBA, MA Educational Psychology
Here, reports have been shared concerning test cheating in New Zealand. Authorities in New Delhi are investigating allegations of cheating on the All India Institute of Medical Sciences (AIIMS) MB/BS entrance exam.
Roughly 284,737 candidates sat for the exam, while 4,905 were deemed qualified. This represents less than 2% of the potential candidate pool. Are there implications for patients in the US seeking medical treatment? As of 2005 (the latest data available), there were 40,838 doctors of Indian descent which account for up to 5% of all medical doctors practicing in the US.
How has this been so? The American Medical Association (AMA) since the 1960s heavily recruited international medical graduates to ensure that Medicare recipients received free services guaranteed by the government. The Association of Physicians of Indian Origin (AAPI), a lobbying group was instrumental in these efforts also. From most accounts it appears as though only 18,000 American students have an interest in filling the 30,000 open seats for medical school. So, the arrangement to obtain quality graduates of Indian origin was a win-win whereby these qualified medical graduates could fill the gap of services. What has transpired of late however, is that there has been a push to recruit international medical student candidates. This is where the problem of potential cheating arises. Not all candidates are equally qualified to study in the US to become potential practitioners of medicine in the US. A whistleblower, Mr. Rai, used Twitter to share snapshots of posted images of questions appearing on the exam.
Thanks to Mr. Rai for coming forward and to the authorities for conducting probes, raiding test facilities, and conducting an investigation. Only through cooperation, collaboration and honesty can the integrity of our medical services be maintained.
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Tonya J. Mead, CFE, PI, MBA, MA, Certified K-12 Administrator and School Psychologist is author of Fraud in Education: Beyond the Wrong Answer and president of Shared Knowledge, LLC http://ishareknowledge.com
Thank you for this post. Good luck.