I wrote the National Registry of Emergency Medical Technicians certification exam on Monday the 21st. The exam is what they call a "computer adaptive test" in that it starts with an easy question and if you get that question correct, you move on to a harder question. If you get that question correct, you move on to an even harder question. If,however, you get that harder question wrong, you get an easier question. If you get that easy question wrong, you get another easy question. And so goes the exam until it can eastablish a baseline for your passing score. The thing is that for some people, the exam will stop at 70 questions. For others, it may be 80 questions and still for others, it could be 110 questions. For me, the exam stopped at 68 questions. I was last certified at the EMT level in 2012, 10 years ago. The exam was MUCH easier and as I recall, the exam stopped for me around question 80 or so. I'd always heard that 70 was the minimum number of questions needed to establish a baseline score (You have to get a minimum of 70% correct) and I read somewhere that if the exam stops at less than 70 questions, you probably failed and did so poorly that even if you did the full exam, you would still fail.
So I left the Pearson Vue testing center pretty certain that I'd failed. Yesterday morning, at 0500, I checked the NREMT app on my phone and... I passed!!!! I had to have gotten a minimum of 48 questions out of 68 correct to pass. So now I can officially say that one of my medical school graduation requirements is checked off. At my school, we are required to pass an EMT class AND the NREMT cert exam to graduate. The EMT class isn't hard but its extra work ON TOP of our medical school coursework and adds quite a bit of stress to the days and weeks. After the course, you have to wait weeks, sometimes a couple of months, before you can schedule the EMS ridealong that is part of the EMT class. Then, once all of that is done, you wait another week or two to be cleared to sit for the NREMT exam. The whole process can carry into Unit 3 of medical school and I know some of my classmates who failed a unit or two because they were trying to stay caught up with the EMT business. It would be better if the school gave students access to the EMT class maybe in late April or early May so that the didactic portion could at least be completed BEFORE medical school starts. After that, they would just need the hands on skills and the two associated testing days. Then students could start the EMS ride alongs earlier and finish the NREMT earlier. But, this is all above my paygrade. All I know is that I passed and I dont have this hanging over my head anymore. When I return to school in July, ALL I have to do is be a medical student...
