Cheating in online exams

Guys, I just want to rant and could I ask for your opinions on this, even if you don't share my views?

I am a 4th year medical student, sitting my written finals this year. I just had part 1 of it in January, which counts towards 1/3 of the finals grade. The exam was online and not invigilated. All that the medical school did to ensure fairness in the exam was asking us to sign a declaration form beforehand. I did not cheat in the exam, as I believed it was not the right thing to do, and that I naively thought everyone would be honest. When the results came out, the cohort average has increased by more than 10 marks (out of 100) compared to previous years, and that >10% of the cohort have scored more than 90 marks. In previous years, the top mark would be around 88-90.

I was really upset when I got my result, which when compared to the falsely inflated cohort average, I am now in 6th decile. In previous years I achieved merit every year and was given academic awards. My good results had allowed me to apply successfully for research scholarships and other things. I have sacrificed so much over the years. When people would skip placements I made very effort to attend them and to get the most out of them. After the release of the results, I heard fellow medical students say how they sat the exam together, each googled several questions and shared the answers with the group. I ranted to a close friend in the year group and she consoled me and reassured me that not cheating was the right thing to do. Her words made me feel better. But then subsequently she confessed to me that she also had cheated.

I just feel so betrayed, so foolish to even believe that people would be honest and that it was an equal playing field. Aren't we all supposed to be future medics with reasonably high moral standards? Is cheating the way to go if I want to do well in this era of online exams? Am I just being way too naive? People say that rankings don't matter. I do agree that ranking is not the be all and end all. I want to be a good doctor, not necessarily the best performing medical student in exams. But at the same time, I just feel that I have worked so hard for nothing, I was consistently doing really well and now just because of cheaters I have lost my merit just like that. If I don't merit because I underperformed, then so be it. But this is not the case here

I just can't help but to feel really down about this. Part 2 of the written finals is in 2 months' time and it will most likely be online again. I can't talk to the medical school about this, as they are in denial about their students cheating. In fact, they congratulated us on our 'excellent exam results'. I don't think I can trust many people in the cohort, now that even my close friends admitted they cheated. I feel really alone in this. Medical students and doctors, what are your thoughts on this? Would you have cheated? Was I being stupidly naive?

Thank you so much x

I'm really sorry for your experience. We had online exams last year too and I had a similar experience. I've always worked hard/gone to placement and placed near the top of the year/received distinctions and other wards. This year, I scraped into 3rd decile - and this year counted for 35% of our decile for our EPM. Similarly, our medical school are in complete denial despite people who cheated, talking openly about it. I know it's not easy to hear with what happened to your ranking, but I think you did the right thing not cheating. People who cheat are inherently deceitful - and if they didn't get caught this time round, they'll 100% do it again and get caught.

I really do feel for students this year. Universities have created policies and made decisions this year about whatever is easiest for them - not based on the validity of assessments/fairness/what is best for students.

Thank you so much for replying. May I ask, will you get upset if you don't graduate with distinctions or awards that you know you deserve? How do you cope with this? I know it is best to stop dwelling on this but I just want to hear from other people

Guys, I just want to rant and could I ask for your opinions on this, even if you don't share my views?

I am a 4th year medical student, sitting my written finals this year. I just had part 1 of it in January, which counts towards 1/3 of the finals grade. The exam was online and not invigilated. All that the medical school did to ensure fairness in the exam was asking us to sign a declaration form beforehand. I did not cheat in the exam, as I believed it was not the right thing to do, and that I naively thought everyone would be honest. When the results came out, the cohort average has increased by more than 10 marks (out of 100) compared to previous years, and that >10% of the cohort have scored more than 90 marks. In previous years, the top mark would be around 88-90.

I was really upset when I got my result, which when compared to the falsely inflated cohort average, I am now in 6th decile. In previous years I achieved merit every year and was given academic awards. My good results had allowed me to apply successfully for research scholarships and other things. I have sacrificed so much over the years. When people would skip placements I made very effort to attend them and to get the most out of them. After the release of the results, I heard fellow medical students say how they sat the exam together, each googled several questions and shared the answers with the group. I ranted to a close friend in the year group and she consoled me and reassured me that not cheating was the right thing to do. Her words made me feel better. But then subsequently she confessed to me that she also had cheated.

I just feel so betrayed, so foolish to even believe that people would be honest and that it was an equal playing field. Aren't we all supposed to be future medics with reasonably high moral standards? Is cheating the way to go if I want to do well in this era of online exams? Am I just being way too naive? People say that rankings don't matter. I do agree that ranking is not the be all and end all. I want to be a good doctor, not necessarily the best performing medical student in exams. But at the same time, I just feel that I have worked so hard for nothing, I was consistently doing really well and now just because of cheaters I have lost my merit just like that. If I don't merit because I underperformed, then so be it. But this is not the case here

I just can't help but to feel really down about this. Part 2 of the written finals is in 2 months' time and it will most likely be online again. I can't talk to the medical school about this, as they are in denial about their students cheating. In fact, they congratulated us on our 'excellent exam results'. I don't think I can trust many people in the cohort, now that even my close friends admitted they cheated. I feel really alone in this. Medical students and doctors, what are your thoughts on this? Would you have cheated? Was I being stupidly naive?

Thank you so much x

Yes 100% it makes me so upset and angry thinking about! And I'll probably feel this way for years! The thing that is making me feel better at the moment is knowing that I'm going to be starting work soon and getting away from medical school. Also just accepting that I can't do anything about it - which is easier said than done. Many of us have highlighted to the university what happened (with evidence of text messages/FB chats/etc) - and they just don't care. But at the end of the day, it's going to take more energy for me to continue fighting with the university, than to just accept it, finish university in 2 months and put it all behind me.

Guys, I just want to rant and could I ask for your opinions on this, even if you don't share my views?

I am a 4th year medical student, sitting my written finals this year. I just had part 1 of it in January, which counts towards 1/3 of the finals grade. The exam was online and not invigilated. All that the medical school did to ensure fairness in the exam was asking us to sign a declaration form beforehand. I did not cheat in the exam, as I believed it was not the right thing to do, and that I naively thought everyone would be honest. When the results came out, the cohort average has increased by more than 10 marks (out of 100) compared to previous years, and that >10% of the cohort have scored more than 90 marks. In previous years, the top mark would be around 88-90.

I was really upset when I got my result, which when compared to the falsely inflated cohort average, I am now in 6th decile. In previous years I achieved merit every year and was given academic awards. My good results had allowed me to apply successfully for research scholarships and other things. I have sacrificed so much over the years. When people would skip placements I made very effort to attend them and to get the most out of them. After the release of the results, I heard fellow medical students say how they sat the exam together, each googled several questions and shared the answers with the group. I ranted to a close friend in the year group and she consoled me and reassured me that not cheating was the right thing to do. Her words made me feel better. But then subsequently she confessed to me that she also had cheated.

I just feel so betrayed, so foolish to even believe that people would be honest and that it was an equal playing field. Aren't we all supposed to be future medics with reasonably high moral standards? Is cheating the way to go if I want to do well in this era of online exams? Am I just being way too naive? People say that rankings don't matter. I do agree that ranking is not the be all and end all. I want to be a good doctor, not necessarily the best performing medical student in exams. But at the same time, I just feel that I have worked so hard for nothing, I was consistently doing really well and now just because of cheaters I have lost my merit just like that. If I don't merit because I underperformed, then so be it. But this is not the case here

I just can't help but to feel really down about this. Part 2 of the written finals is in 2 months' time and it will most likely be online again. I can't talk to the medical school about this, as they are in denial about their students cheating. In fact, they congratulated us on our 'excellent exam results'. I don't think I can trust many people in the cohort, now that even my close friends admitted they cheated. I feel really alone in this. Medical students and doctors, what are your thoughts on this? Would you have cheated? Was I being stupidly naive?

Thank you so much x

Guys, I just want to rant and could I ask for your opinions on this, even if you don't share my views?

I am a 4th year medical student, sitting my written finals this year. I just had part 1 of it in January, which counts towards 1/3 of the finals grade. The exam was online and not invigilated. All that the medical school did to ensure fairness in the exam was asking us to sign a declaration form beforehand. I did not cheat in the exam, as I believed it was not the right thing to do, and that I naively thought everyone would be honest. When the results came out, the cohort average has increased by more than 10 marks (out of 100) compared to previous years, and that >10% of the cohort have scored more than 90 marks. In previous years, the top mark would be around 88-90.

I was really upset when I got my result, which when compared to the falsely inflated cohort average, I am now in 6th decile. In previous years I achieved merit every year and was given academic awards. My good results had allowed me to apply successfully for research scholarships and other things. I have sacrificed so much over the years. When people would skip placements I made very effort to attend them and to get the most out of them. After the release of the results, I heard fellow medical students say how they sat the exam together, each googled several questions and shared the answers with the group. I ranted to a close friend in the year group and she consoled me and reassured me that not cheating was the right thing to do. Her words made me feel better. But then subsequently she confessed to me that she also had cheated.

I just feel so betrayed, so foolish to even believe that people would be honest and that it was an equal playing field. Aren't we all supposed to be future medics with reasonably high moral standards? Is cheating the way to go if I want to do well in this era of online exams? Am I just being way too naive? People say that rankings don't matter. I do agree that ranking is not the be all and end all. I want to be a good doctor, not necessarily the best performing medical student in exams. But at the same time, I just feel that I have worked so hard for nothing, I was consistently doing really well and now just because of cheaters I have lost my merit just like that. If I don't merit because I underperformed, then so be it. But this is not the case here

I just can't help but to feel really down about this. Part 2 of the written finals is in 2 months' time and it will most likely be online again. I can't talk to the medical school about this, as they are in denial about their students cheating. In fact, they congratulated us on our 'excellent exam results'. I don't think I can trust many people in the cohort, now that even my close friends admitted they cheated. I feel really alone in this. Medical students and doctors, what are your thoughts on this? Would you have cheated? Was I being stupidly naive?

Thank you so much x

why do people pay money and spend effort in becoming a medical doctor to cheat all their years spent on medical school?

Guys, I just want to rant and could I ask for your opinions on this, even if you don't share my views?

I am a 4th year medical student, sitting my written finals this year. I just had part 1 of it in January, which counts towards 1/3 of the finals grade. The exam was online and not invigilated. All that the medical school did to ensure fairness in the exam was asking us to sign a declaration form beforehand. I did not cheat in the exam, as I believed it was not the right thing to do, and that I naively thought everyone would be honest. When the results came out, the cohort average has increased by more than 10 marks (out of 100) compared to previous years, and that >10% of the cohort have scored more than 90 marks. In previous years, the top mark would be around 88-90.

I was really upset when I got my result, which when compared to the falsely inflated cohort average, I am now in 6th decile. In previous years I achieved merit every year and was given academic awards. My good results had allowed me to apply successfully for research scholarships and other things. I have sacrificed so much over the years. When people would skip placements I made very effort to attend them and to get the most out of them. After the release of the results, I heard fellow medical students say how they sat the exam together, each googled several questions and shared the answers with the group. I ranted to a close friend in the year group and she consoled me and reassured me that not cheating was the right thing to do. Her words made me feel better. But then subsequently she confessed to me that she also had cheated.

I just feel so betrayed, so foolish to even believe that people would be honest and that it was an equal playing field. Aren't we all supposed to be future medics with reasonably high moral standards? Is cheating the way to go if I want to do well in this era of online exams? Am I just being way too naive? People say that rankings don't matter. I do agree that ranking is not the be all and end all. I want to be a good doctor, not necessarily the best performing medical student in exams. But at the same time, I just feel that I have worked so hard for nothing, I was consistently doing really well and now just because of cheaters I have lost my merit just like that. If I don't merit because I underperformed, then so be it. But this is not the case here

I just can't help but to feel really down about this. Part 2 of the written finals is in 2 months' time and it will most likely be online again. I can't talk to the medical school about this, as they are in denial about their students cheating. In fact, they congratulated us on our 'excellent exam results'. I don't think I can trust many people in the cohort, now that even my close friends admitted they cheated. I feel really alone in this. Medical students and doctors, what are your thoughts on this? Would you have cheated? Was I being stupidly naive?

Thank you so much x

You made a respectable decision to do things the honest way and not cheat your way into passing an exam. Unless it was explicitly written in the declaration that the exam is not open book and students must not cheat, then technically your colleagues have done nothing wrong, and they all know that - so they will all compromise their moral standards in favour of passing an exam. To tell you the truth, it was quite naive of you to hold all your colleagues to the same moral standards that you hold yourself to. As this very fine social experiment has shown you - even future doctors will cheat and lie about everything to each other when they know their exam is not being invigilated. When all the measures to prevent people cheating are removed - medical students will cheat like anybody else, and their moral standards are no higher than students on other courses, as you would expect them to be. This is why hospital safeguards and regulations exist - to protect patients against people like your colleagues who are dishonest and cut corners into becoming doctors. What these students have shown you is that they are very easily corruptible, which makes them weak. You took the high ground, which makes you more resilient than everyone else even though you had to suffer the consequence of taking a lower grade. Sometimes we have to work extremely hard and it just doesn't go the way we hoped it would. Don't compromise on your higher values just because everyone else is doing it. Be a leader, not a sheep.

I hope this experience has taught you not to trust other medical students so easily, especially when you find out that your colleagues helped each other during the exam but didn't invite you to join them, and only told you about what they did after the exam was already completed. I know people who are exactly like this - they will hunt for good study resources everywhere, deliberately not share them, and only tell everybody else about what they used once the exams are finished. Medical students are not your friends - they are only in it for themselves and they will stab you in the back when they get an opportunity to pass their exams as easily as this. Your job is to stop people walking all over you or taking you for a fool. Call people out on their dishonesty next time you see it, and challenge ignorant medical students who claim they have passed exams on honest work if you know for a fact they haven't been turning up to placements. Call out your university on allowing this to happen as they have clearly demonstrated they don't care about students cheating their way through, even though this compromises the standards and reputation that your institution cares so much about maintaining. For people who are about to become doctors - medical students are not the selfless and transparent people they make out they are. It's good this experience has shown you the true colours of people you thought were your friends. Don't make the effort to be friends with people who will take your support and validation but extend nothing to you in return when it comes to keeping you in the loop about studying and passing exams. It's better to walk the path alone and only rely on yourself rather than keep fake two-faced people around. They only have their own interests at heart.

Imperial final year medical students had exams online and open book but with less time to complete the questions than they would have been given had the exam been conducted in person. Watch some videos on YouTube and you'll hear them openly talking about messaging each other during the exam, helping each other with questions. Even at the top institutions the same thing is going on. So don't feel guilty about it.