INSTRUCTIONS FOR THE MOC REMOTE ACCESS EXAM SYSTEM CHECK AND PRACTICE TEST

Transcription

1 INSTRUCTIONS FOR THE MOC REMOTE ACCESS EXAM SYSTEM CHECK AND PRACTICE TEST Please carefully read this entire document prior to starting the system check. The MOC exam cannot be taken on a tablet, smart phone, or other hybrid device. Do not try to perform the system check with any of these unsupported devices. The purpose of the system check/practice test is to validate your computer system and set-up the remote proctoring software on the computer with which you will be taking the exam. We recommend using a personal laptop with built-in webcam and microphone and direct Ethernet connection. You should use the same computer for the system check, practice test, and MOC exam. If you change computers, then the process of installing the remote proctoring components will need to be repeated. You do not need to prep your testing environment for the system check or practice test. You may have a printed copy of these instructions available during the system check/practice test. Instructions on how to prep your testing environment for the exam are posted on our website. Click here to go directly to the MOC section of our website where all remote access exam administration documents are stored. You will need a government issued photo ID to display to the webcam when prompted. You will need the system check website address and the practice test access code posted in your PATHway account (in your Board Correspondence portal). We recommend copying and pasting the web address and access code in notepad (or the Mac equivalent) for easy retrieval later. You may perform the system check on more than one computer if needed. The remote proctoring program is provided by Software Secure. The practice test and exam are administered by FastTEST. Technical support is available 24/7 at The Software Secure program does not allow screen sharing applications to be running while taking the exam. Before going to the system check website, make sure you have closed the following programs on your computer. Again, the programs only need to be closed during the exam; they do not need to be removed or uninstalled from your computer. Skype GoToMyPC!Tunes Instant Messaging LogMeln/Log MeIn Systray Microsoft Lyne Additionally, many computers in an institutional setting have remote support applications (like Team Viewer) installed to assist with technical support and these programs will prevent the remote proctoring program from running. You will need to uninstall or temporarily disable these programs prior to going to the system check website. If you have extra monitors or devices and/or any slave computers hooked up to your computer, it may be necessary for you to unhook the extra devices. If you have any questions or concerns regarding these instructions, please contact the Board by phone at x222 M-F 9-4 EST, or to [email protected].

2 To initiate the system check, follow the steps below. Please be patient during the security review and exam installation as it may take longer depending on your hardware and firewalls. If you experience any problems with the installation, please call technical support. The following screen shots may vary slightly in appearance for Mac users. 1. Open a web browser on your computer and go to the system check website ( The Software Secure remote proctoring program works best in Safari for Mac users. For PC users, Firefox, Internet Explorer and Google Chrome are supported browsers. Troubleshooting Tip: If you experience problems opening the system check website, you may want to switch to another web browser and try again. Please note that due to institutional firewalls, you may find it easier to access the remote proctored exam from home or on a personal laptop in your office. 2. This is a screen shot of the system check website. Click on Start System Check, then click on Start Test to begin. During the system check, several components of your computer s system will be tested. Please ensure that you do not have any patient (or other sensitive) information left out that the camera may see and record. As the audio controls are tested a sound clip will be played, so please ensure that you are in an environment where others will not be impacted by the sudden noise. Troubleshooting Tip: It is necessary to have Adobe Flash on your machine. Recently there have been security issues with Adobe Flash. Due to this there have been several releases of new versions of the Flash product in a short period of time. Even if you have recently updated Adobe Flash you may have to perform another update. The Software Secure platform used to administer the MOC exam will notify you if an update is necessary, and will assist in directing you to the update. In addition some browsers have added additional steps to enable Adobe Flash support. These steps vary depending on both browser (Internet Explorer, FireFox, Chrome, Safari) as well as the specific version of the browser that you are using. You should be able to do a google search on the current steps to enable Adobe Flash support for your specific situation.

3 3. If your system is compatible, you will see the following screen shot. Click on Continue to exit the system check and begin the practice test. If not, the remote proctoring program should alert you to any needed updates or conflicting programs in pop-up windows. Follow the program s suggestions. If you still are unable to successfully complete the system check, you may need to try on a different computer or contact technical support at To initiate the practice test, follow the steps below. The practice test will confirm that you will be able to view the exam images and use all of the functions of the exam program. Please note that if you need technical support during the installation of the MOC practice test, you can click on Contact Support in the upper right-hand corner. You will then be able to have an online chat with a representative from Software Secure. 4. This is a screen shot of the practice test start page. If you are using a PC, click on the Windows icon. If you are using a Mac, click on Using a Mac? Click here, then click on the Mac icon.

4 5. A box will appear asking you if you want to save the setup.exe file. Click on Save. The Software Secure application will launch at this time. It can take a minute or two before launch is complete, please be patient. After the application has launched your practice exam will be running in the Software Secure application and not in your web browser. You will see a new item at the bottom of your screen with a large green checkmark while the exam is running. 6. On the next screen, enter your practice test access code. You may copy the code that you pasted into notepad (or the Mac equivalent) earlier and paste it into the Exam Code field. Click on Validate and then click on Next. Troubleshooting Tip: If this screen does not appear after a couple of minutes, it may have opened behind the browser screen that you are currently viewing. Minimize the current window to view this remote proctoring window. If during the set-up process you don t see anything updating on the remote proctoring window, or if it asks you to click on camera controls that are not displayed, try clicking on the Reload Page button at the top. Often this will correct the problem. If not, please contact technical support at At this point, Software Secure will check to see if you have any prohibited programs running on your computer. If you do, you will be advised to close those programs or allow Software Secure to do it for you. Again, the programs only need to be closed, not uninstalled from your computer. If you are on a corporate network it is possible that programs of this nature will be mandatory and will require assistance from your IT department to close or temporarily disable.

5 8. Next, you will be asked to show your government issued photo ID to the web camera. You will be asked to take a clear snapshot of it and confirm it is your identity. Do not skip this step. 9. Next, you will be asked to scan the testing environment. You will need to pan the camera around the room. If you are using a laptop with webcam, you will pick up the laptop and slowly rotate to give a 360 degree view of the room you are in. If using a standalone or external webcam, you will slowly rotate the camera to provide a 360 degree view of the room you are in. Click on Start Room Scan then begin to slowly rotate the webcam.

6 10. Next, you will be asked to take a photo of yourself using the webcam and confirm your identity. Do not skip this step. Click on Take User Photo. 11. You should now have access to the FastTEST portal with a list of the MOC exam modules available to you. The following screen shot is just an example. Click on the Practice Test to begin.

7 12. Your practice test screen should look like the example below when the calculator link is selected. Troubleshoot Tip: We have seen some instances where once the exam launches the user cannot see the buttons at the bottom of the screen used to navigate the system ( Back, Review, and Next ). If you have this issue then try clicking on the Restore Down icon on your browser window (just to the left of the red X in the top right), and then again (now called Maximize ) and the buttons should appear. The commands for Mac users may vary from these. 13. When you have completed the practice test module, you will be asked to verify that you are done. The program will then present you with the following message box. Click on End Exam. We are working with Software Secure to change the language of this message, since you are not responsible or even able to save your answers. PLEASE BE ASSURED THAT ALL OF YOUR ANSWERS HAVE BEEN SAVED BY THE PROGRAM AUTOMATICALLY. NO DATA WILL BE LOST WHEN YOU CLICK ON END EXAM.

8 14. Once you have successfully exited the practice test, you will see the following screen shot. The Software Secure program (denoted with the green checkmark on your taskbar) should close automatically. We hope that these instructions and tips will assist with navigating the initial implementation. It is important to note that once the initial setup is completed successfully, the second interaction to take the full test will be much smoother and quicker. Upon successful completion of the system check and practice test, ABP will assign you a MOC exam access code. This code will be posted in your PATHway account (in your Board Correspondence portal). You will be sent an when the code has been posted.