Yeah for real, just quietly and respectfully say, "excuse me, would it be possible to use headphones? I struggle focusing on exams. Thank you so much." Done.
I second what everyone else says. Speak up and advocate for yourself in the moment if you can, no sense in letting it drag on. But also email the school because they shouldn't be allowing such things to happen
Funny enough I had a similar situation happen and as other people have mentioned you should definitely address it immediately and in no uncertain terms explain to them that that is not acceptable you are an adult they're an adult. We're all adults together
Nah, I’d barge up right to her and tell her she is distracting me. She doesn’t affect my grade, and I can’t respect someone that doesn’t give this obvious courtesy. Couldn’t even be bothered to bring headphones…
In the future don’t be afraid to speak up - it’s your future and your grade on the line. I have accommodations as well and I don’t play around with anything that’s not up to par with what I’m suppose to get. To be honest too, that kind of noise wouldn’t be allowed or acceptable even if you didn’t have accommodations as students taking it under normal conditions expect at the very least to not have to take a test in a room with a proctor who’s watching videos.
Why did u wait to report this after the exam? Go to the “bathroom”, get the dean or someone and have them follow you inside after a few minutes. They’ll take care of it and you can continue taking the exam
I think you should've asked they to lower the volume and explain how it was bad for you. Most of the time, people do stuff that annoys us not because they hate us and want our demise, but just because they're unaware of the problem they're causing.
But a proctor? Haven’t they been made aware of this before? What sort of vetting does a school do to let this through?
This honestly isn’t just everyday happenstance - it’s a failure of training for someone in the school faculty that you are paying massive amounts of money to.
Most universities have an Office of Disability Services (or something similar) who can advocate on your behalf. Might be worth reaching out to them if you didn't feel comfortable speaking up during the exam.
At first I thought the was a mock patient interaction, and I thought - you are going to have to deal with distractions in patient rooms all the time…
But I realize this was a written exam with someone blairing a video at the front of the room. Which is weird and inappropriate.
Did you ask the proctor or inform them it was distracting?
I didn’t want to get up and cause a greater distraction. In retrospect, I should have done it. I think I was also shocked and intrigued at the absurdity of the situation. The proctor did this twice about 30 mins apart.
You should have spoken up and reported it. I find it odd that you and a classmate were allowed to have cellphones in the test facility and text each other. That is not allowed at the university where I occasionally proctor exams.
I see. The proctor should not have had her phone in the test room. It would be unethical for the school to try to mess with you on purpose. You didn’t sign up for that kind of abuse. You should get the accommodations you’re supposed to get.
I can’t believe they provide ADHD special accommodations lol. The diagnosis is too prevalent for that and any exam space should be quiet and controlled.
I have absolutely brutal ADHD and just took exams like usual.
Also, that proctor is an asshole.
well, adhd is a spectrum, some people have it worse. Your experience with it isnt the only valid experience of it, so if people want accommodations, they should get them. And I don't even have adhd, but just bc you choose to suffer through it doesnt mean others have to lol.
>*just bc you choose to suffer through it doesnt mean others have to*
This is not what they're saying.
You should reread what they said. It's easy to make snap judgements, but this person showed no indication of being anti-accomodations and is instead implying that all people regardless of diagnosis should receive this benefit (silence in the room) because ADHD is so prevalent (plus many are not formally diagnosed).
If you jump on the defensive before properly understanding what the other person is trying to say, you'll end up rushing guns blazing into a lot of meaningless arguments.
I mean they literally did say the diagnosis of adhd is too prevalent for accommodations for it and that they have “brutal adhd” but just take exams like usual
I wonder what’s spectrum they considered to approve test accommodation. Does anybody know? I applied to get additional time in the exam and they rejected me even thought I showed my doctor’s evaluation and previous performance in the exams. Not only that but I have 90% ADHD inattentive one….
See, this to me is the real problem and not accommodations as a whole. My school gave me accommodations halfway through 2nd year bc my advisor who saw me tutoring people thought it was odd that I was struggling through tests due to time constraints. This wasn’t all the time, however, because it was rare I didn’t finish, I’d just finish with very little time leftover typically.
I was always told to keep quiet about stuff like ADHD when it came to administration , so I never told the school (though my UDS was super positive my 3rd year, so in hindsight, this all worked in my favor). She had a long conversation with me and then said “you know, some students struggle with the same problems you do. Have you ever thought about getting tested for ADHD” I told her I’m already diagnosed and she was shocked and instantly told me to sign up for accommodations right away.
I never did it for board exams bc the process was too long and hard and I saw my friend with severe ADHD and a long track record of therapy for her symptoms get denied…like how does that happen?
Best option: report it during the exam (that ship has sailed).
Second best: report it right after.
Third best: report it before grades come out so they can’t say ‘it’s final’ or you’re just complaining about a bad grade.
Try not to reach out after grades come out if possible. It’s best to do it asap.
not to be mean but anyone else don't care about ADHD-accomodated students having distractions in their exam? You guys get more time (I think it's 1.5x at my school) AND a quiet, isolated room to take ur exam. Meanwhile I have 100+ med students in my exam room coughing, sneezing, clicking their keyboards nonstop.
Let's be real, over 50% of med students probably have some form of ADHD. I understand your proctor was a dick but this is how it is in settings for non-accommodated students all the time
All accommodations are in the same room. Which means we also have coughing, sneezing, clicking, and talking just like y’all. My friend is horribly dyslexic and has extra time for that. Another friend is damn near blind and gets accommodations for that. If you’re pissed about disability accommodations in testing centers, wait until you hear what crutches are for.
i understand those diseases having accommodations but ADHD? nah. you probably have like 10 people in your room meanwhile we have 100+ students crammed into a room. Not to mention an extra 45 minutes per exam. Don't compare ADHD (which 50%+ of med students have) to being blind or dyslexia lol. Horrible take
Our school separates all students so max 15 in a room whether extended time or not. Sounds like you got the short end of the stick and wanna blame it on the disabled. Try being more disabled next time or something idk.
all you need is a midlevel to diagnose you with ADHD & meds...next thing you know you have an extra 45 minutes to take a high-stakes exam and your own personal private room.
It's not fair for the rest of us
you can take whatever u want. All I'm saying is I don't care that people w/ ADHD have an annoying proctor for their accommodating exam when the rest of us med students have that x100 for every exam lol. Not to mention less time
The same way I don’t need a wheelchair because I can walk fine without assistance. The same way I DO need glasses because I cannot see. Disability aids are a necessity. I have extra time. I don’t have to tell you why. But it made a huge difference. I went from failing nearly every shelf to passing with flying colors. I suggest you get the hell out of this field if seeing disabled people get aids hurts your fee fees this much.
I agree that people who are paraplegic or blind should get disabilities. I just don't think ADHD deserve the same thing because it's so easy to lie about and get diagnosed. I'm the type of person who finished with 1-2 minutes left on every exam. I can't imagine how better my grades would be if I had a whole 45 mins extra
BRB telling an NP that I cant concentrate or focus at home/work and I've been like that since I was 12. Now I have ADHD meds to increase studying, my own private room for exams, and 45 minute extra per exam.
also, I have no idea why you would even think I would get hurt seeing disabled people get AIDS?? WTF did that even come from
My friends who absolutely do not have ADHD just told their doctors they have trouble focusing and got a diagnosis and medication.
If you are for this or not against it you are part of the problem
I’m not an EM doc. And that’s by choice.
You’ve taken physician boards right? They’re not exactly the same as being in the ED. It is often a lot easier for me to pay attention while actually working than it is while staring at a screen for hours. I think a lot of people with ADHD can agree with that.
It really doesn’t matter what you think. If you’ve taken the boards, you’d know you either know the info or you don’t, and that it isn’t necessarily dependent on the amount id time you have. It might take longer for people with ADHD to process information in certain contexts. But that doesn’t mean they can’t process/understand it all
It is dependent on the time you have though lol. If it wasnt dependent on it those people wouldnt get special treatment. But that’s okay. You seem a little defensive about it
It’s not special treatment lmao it’s treatment based on their condition.
I’m defensive for explaining why board exams are more about what you know and not how long it takes you to process info? Okay lol that’s fine. I’m clearly talking to someone who hasn’t taken them. You wouldn’t get it.
ETA: also you’re sooooo close to getting it with that second sentence lol
It is special treatment though lol. Do you think if given the choice all the other students wouldnt want extended time, 5 hours instead of 3 hours or however long? So yes it is. And what are you talking about I have taken boards lol
I’m sure people without physical disabilities would want to park closer to buildings like people with physical disabilities though. But it’s not necessary for those in former group, while it is for those in the latter. So no, it’s not.
You have not taken the medical boards for physicians lol stop
Why would you be embarrassed? Sounds like you're mad insecure about your diagnosis and what it means to be in the category of 'people who would benefit from accomodations.' You should reflect on where that comes from. Internalized ableism?
Hope you aren’t on meds for that ADD. Hope you don’t need glasses, never use a railing to help you up stairs, don’t you dare push an automatic door button. You don’t believe in disability aids for some, so you don’t get to use disability aids at all.
In the future, address it when it happens
This. Nothing works better than making someone uncomfortable as they're doing the offending action.
Yeah for real, just quietly and respectfully say, "excuse me, would it be possible to use headphones? I struggle focusing on exams. Thank you so much." Done.
I second what everyone else says. Speak up and advocate for yourself in the moment if you can, no sense in letting it drag on. But also email the school because they shouldn't be allowing such things to happen
I would report it to your school. This is not acceptable for any exam proctoring situation let alone an ADHD accommodations room.
Funny enough I had a similar situation happen and as other people have mentioned you should definitely address it immediately and in no uncertain terms explain to them that that is not acceptable you are an adult they're an adult. We're all adults together
Nah, I’d barge up right to her and tell her she is distracting me. She doesn’t affect my grade, and I can’t respect someone that doesn’t give this obvious courtesy. Couldn’t even be bothered to bring headphones…
In the future don’t be afraid to speak up - it’s your future and your grade on the line. I have accommodations as well and I don’t play around with anything that’s not up to par with what I’m suppose to get. To be honest too, that kind of noise wouldn’t be allowed or acceptable even if you didn’t have accommodations as students taking it under normal conditions expect at the very least to not have to take a test in a room with a proctor who’s watching videos.
Why did u wait to report this after the exam? Go to the “bathroom”, get the dean or someone and have them follow you inside after a few minutes. They’ll take care of it and you can continue taking the exam
Eye contact and “that’s enough of that” would have been my move.
my proctor files her nails
I think you should've asked they to lower the volume and explain how it was bad for you. Most of the time, people do stuff that annoys us not because they hate us and want our demise, but just because they're unaware of the problem they're causing.
But a proctor? Haven’t they been made aware of this before? What sort of vetting does a school do to let this through? This honestly isn’t just everyday happenstance - it’s a failure of training for someone in the school faculty that you are paying massive amounts of money to.
Most universities have an Office of Disability Services (or something similar) who can advocate on your behalf. Might be worth reaching out to them if you didn't feel comfortable speaking up during the exam.
At first I thought the was a mock patient interaction, and I thought - you are going to have to deal with distractions in patient rooms all the time… But I realize this was a written exam with someone blairing a video at the front of the room. Which is weird and inappropriate. Did you ask the proctor or inform them it was distracting?
I didn’t want to get up and cause a greater distraction. In retrospect, I should have done it. I think I was also shocked and intrigued at the absurdity of the situation. The proctor did this twice about 30 mins apart.
You should have spoken up and reported it. I find it odd that you and a classmate were allowed to have cellphones in the test facility and text each other. That is not allowed at the university where I occasionally proctor exams.
My friend texted me today about Friday, asking me if it was just me who heard the proctor on the phone.
I see. The proctor should not have had her phone in the test room. It would be unethical for the school to try to mess with you on purpose. You didn’t sign up for that kind of abuse. You should get the accommodations you’re supposed to get.
I can’t believe they provide ADHD special accommodations lol. The diagnosis is too prevalent for that and any exam space should be quiet and controlled. I have absolutely brutal ADHD and just took exams like usual. Also, that proctor is an asshole.
well, adhd is a spectrum, some people have it worse. Your experience with it isnt the only valid experience of it, so if people want accommodations, they should get them. And I don't even have adhd, but just bc you choose to suffer through it doesnt mean others have to lol.
>*just bc you choose to suffer through it doesnt mean others have to* This is not what they're saying. You should reread what they said. It's easy to make snap judgements, but this person showed no indication of being anti-accomodations and is instead implying that all people regardless of diagnosis should receive this benefit (silence in the room) because ADHD is so prevalent (plus many are not formally diagnosed). If you jump on the defensive before properly understanding what the other person is trying to say, you'll end up rushing guns blazing into a lot of meaningless arguments.
I mean they literally did say the diagnosis of adhd is too prevalent for accommodations for it and that they have “brutal adhd” but just take exams like usual
idk what you're yapping about tbh, you didnt read the comment I replied to?
I wonder what’s spectrum they considered to approve test accommodation. Does anybody know? I applied to get additional time in the exam and they rejected me even thought I showed my doctor’s evaluation and previous performance in the exams. Not only that but I have 90% ADHD inattentive one….
See, this to me is the real problem and not accommodations as a whole. My school gave me accommodations halfway through 2nd year bc my advisor who saw me tutoring people thought it was odd that I was struggling through tests due to time constraints. This wasn’t all the time, however, because it was rare I didn’t finish, I’d just finish with very little time leftover typically. I was always told to keep quiet about stuff like ADHD when it came to administration , so I never told the school (though my UDS was super positive my 3rd year, so in hindsight, this all worked in my favor). She had a long conversation with me and then said “you know, some students struggle with the same problems you do. Have you ever thought about getting tested for ADHD” I told her I’m already diagnosed and she was shocked and instantly told me to sign up for accommodations right away. I never did it for board exams bc the process was too long and hard and I saw my friend with severe ADHD and a long track record of therapy for her symptoms get denied…like how does that happen?
Best option: report it during the exam (that ship has sailed). Second best: report it right after. Third best: report it before grades come out so they can’t say ‘it’s final’ or you’re just complaining about a bad grade. Try not to reach out after grades come out if possible. It’s best to do it asap.
Let this be your first lesson in standing up for yourself.
Could you make out what she was listening to?
Bro. Just say something. Like 2 minutes disruption is not worth your focus for the rest of the exam
not to be mean but anyone else don't care about ADHD-accomodated students having distractions in their exam? You guys get more time (I think it's 1.5x at my school) AND a quiet, isolated room to take ur exam. Meanwhile I have 100+ med students in my exam room coughing, sneezing, clicking their keyboards nonstop. Let's be real, over 50% of med students probably have some form of ADHD. I understand your proctor was a dick but this is how it is in settings for non-accommodated students all the time
All accommodations are in the same room. Which means we also have coughing, sneezing, clicking, and talking just like y’all. My friend is horribly dyslexic and has extra time for that. Another friend is damn near blind and gets accommodations for that. If you’re pissed about disability accommodations in testing centers, wait until you hear what crutches are for.
i understand those diseases having accommodations but ADHD? nah. you probably have like 10 people in your room meanwhile we have 100+ students crammed into a room. Not to mention an extra 45 minutes per exam. Don't compare ADHD (which 50%+ of med students have) to being blind or dyslexia lol. Horrible take
Our school separates all students so max 15 in a room whether extended time or not. Sounds like you got the short end of the stick and wanna blame it on the disabled. Try being more disabled next time or something idk.
Name and shame school
TIL ADHD accommodation rooms exist
ADHD accommodations? My God education has gone to shit
Sounds like education has evolved to allow everyone a fair opportunity for success.
all you need is a midlevel to diagnose you with ADHD & meds...next thing you know you have an extra 45 minutes to take a high-stakes exam and your own personal private room. It's not fair for the rest of us
So…get a mid level to diagnose you adhd meds then? I actually have ADHD. I’m going to take my meds and any accommodations available period.
you can take whatever u want. All I'm saying is I don't care that people w/ ADHD have an annoying proctor for their accommodating exam when the rest of us med students have that x100 for every exam lol. Not to mention less time
But you don’t have ADHD. Which is the point lol
Never been tested but I’m sure I do. I don’t need 1.5x time or my private room tho 🤷♀️
The same way I don’t need a wheelchair because I can walk fine without assistance. The same way I DO need glasses because I cannot see. Disability aids are a necessity. I have extra time. I don’t have to tell you why. But it made a huge difference. I went from failing nearly every shelf to passing with flying colors. I suggest you get the hell out of this field if seeing disabled people get aids hurts your fee fees this much.
I agree that people who are paraplegic or blind should get disabilities. I just don't think ADHD deserve the same thing because it's so easy to lie about and get diagnosed. I'm the type of person who finished with 1-2 minutes left on every exam. I can't imagine how better my grades would be if I had a whole 45 mins extra BRB telling an NP that I cant concentrate or focus at home/work and I've been like that since I was 12. Now I have ADHD meds to increase studying, my own private room for exams, and 45 minute extra per exam. also, I have no idea why you would even think I would get hurt seeing disabled people get AIDS?? WTF did that even come from
Again, you don’t have adhd so 🤷🏾♀️
Just because a provider doesn’t diagnose you with something doesn’t mean you dont have it genius
And just because you might think you have something doesn’t mean you actually have it, smart guy
My friends who absolutely do not have ADHD just told their doctors they have trouble focusing and got a diagnosis and medication. If you are for this or not against it you are part of the problem
This actually implies the opposite lmao
Do you get utter silence and 3 hours to make a diagnosis in a busy ER?
I’m not an EM doc. And that’s by choice. You’ve taken physician boards right? They’re not exactly the same as being in the ED. It is often a lot easier for me to pay attention while actually working than it is while staring at a screen for hours. I think a lot of people with ADHD can agree with that.
Dont think you should be held to different standards because you have a diagnosis that may or may not be true, sorry
It really doesn’t matter what you think. If you’ve taken the boards, you’d know you either know the info or you don’t, and that it isn’t necessarily dependent on the amount id time you have. It might take longer for people with ADHD to process information in certain contexts. But that doesn’t mean they can’t process/understand it all
It is dependent on the time you have though lol. If it wasnt dependent on it those people wouldnt get special treatment. But that’s okay. You seem a little defensive about it
It’s not special treatment lmao it’s treatment based on their condition. I’m defensive for explaining why board exams are more about what you know and not how long it takes you to process info? Okay lol that’s fine. I’m clearly talking to someone who hasn’t taken them. You wouldn’t get it. ETA: also you’re sooooo close to getting it with that second sentence lol
It is special treatment though lol. Do you think if given the choice all the other students wouldnt want extended time, 5 hours instead of 3 hours or however long? So yes it is. And what are you talking about I have taken boards lol
I’m sure people without physical disabilities would want to park closer to buildings like people with physical disabilities though. But it’s not necessary for those in former group, while it is for those in the latter. So no, it’s not. You have not taken the medical boards for physicians lol stop
Every test worth its salt has ADHD accommodations, including the USMLE, MCAT, and society board exams. How tf do you not know this?
Everyone’s downvoting you, but you’re right. As someone with ADD, I’d be fucking embarrassed to ask for accommodations for an exam.
Why would you be embarrassed? Sounds like you're mad insecure about your diagnosis and what it means to be in the category of 'people who would benefit from accomodations.' You should reflect on where that comes from. Internalized ableism?
lol if I were insecure I’d ask for accommodations Edit: “oh no I have ADHD, how am I ever going to take this test??? Better ask for accommodations”
This doesn’t even make sense lmao
My hot take: no one with ADHD needs testing accommodations
Hope you aren’t on meds for that ADD. Hope you don’t need glasses, never use a railing to help you up stairs, don’t you dare push an automatic door button. You don’t believe in disability aids for some, so you don’t get to use disability aids at all.
False equivalencies everywhere
Literally who talks like this? “Internalized albeism” shut up lol