On Jan. 15, 2016, eight students from chiropractic colleges, including CUKC student Casey Shipps, attended the 13th Annual National Board of Chiropractic Examiners student leadership forum. The NBCE president, Dr. Donna L. Craft, kicked off the forum by welcoming us to Greeley, Colo., and letting us know about our jam-packed itinerary for the day. After a quick tour of the building, the group sat down to discuss several relevant topics concerning the national boards and each of our chiropractic colleges.
Topics included upcoming changes to the national boards, such as being able to pay for the exams with a credit card, increasing the frequency of testing from two times a year to six, and the transition to computer-based testing. Cleveland University-Kansas City is looking into making the necessary changes to meet the requirements to be able to grant students the option to partake in computer testing.
One of the topics was debunking NBCE myths. Going to chiropractic school boards are the necessary evil that looms over every student until they see a score of 375 or higher for parts I, II, III, IV and PT. Rumors surrounding each exam run rampant and are mostly fueled by fear.
Some of the myths that discussede:
1. The top 10% of questions answered correctly are NOT thrown out.
2. The bottom 10% of questions answered incorrectly are NOT thrown out.
3. There are 10 “field test questions” incorporated into each test that ARE thrown out. How these questions are answered gauges whether they will be used in upcoming exams or not.
4. There is not a curve. Theoretically, there could be a 100% rate of passing or failing. There is not a set percentage that passes or fails.
5. NBCE does not “hold scores.” There are several detailed steps that must be completed before scores are released that justify the dreaded six-week wait. Overall, my time spent in Greeley was informative. While there are still several things that we, as students, would want to change about boards, they are making strides in the right direction. One can only hope that the changes they proposed for the future will only enhance our national board exms experience.
