License candidates got “second guess” on exam answers

Some candidates for a radiologic technologist license were given second chances on the same day of examination to “reanswer” questions they got wrong, according to a September performance audit of Arizona’s Medical Radiologic Technology Board of Examiners.

Finding that the board has consistently operated in an unsatisfactory manner, the audit states that the has not been exemplary in ensuring only qualified applicants receive certification, has failed to promptly respond and resolve complaints, and that there exists a failure to provide “accurate and complete information to the public.”

The practice of allowing exam candidates to reanswer questions, the audit observes, is in violation of state law, which only permits applicants to take the whole examination a second time once they have submitted another application and fee. The audit also found that an applicant with fake credentials received a certificate from the board. The credentials could have easily been verified online, the audit notes.

“We reviewed a random sample of nine initial certificates and found eight that did not meet all the statutory and rule education requirements,” the audit states.

Of the 12 random renewal applications the board examined, 8 of them were mishandled.

Board staff also mishandled numerous complaint cases by way of lack of investigation or premature dismissal, auditors found. A number of the complaints the board did address  took more than 180 days to resolve, the maximum recommended length. One case took more than a year.

Read the full audit here.