Terms of Service

DRAFT for legal review, not legal advice · last updated 2026-09-26

1. The service

MockBoards ("the Service") is a web application for planning, running, and scoring mock oral-board and OSCE-style examinations for residency and fellowship programs ("Programs"). The operator of the Service is referred to as "we" or "us".

2. Accounts, approval, and suspension

Anyone may sign up a Program. New Programs start in a pending state: administrators can build test days, but cannot send e-mail through the Service, publish test days, or add administrators until the Program is approved by us, starts a paid plan, or uses a qualifying discount code. We may decline any sign-up.
Program administrators are responsible for who they add as administrators, examiners, and learners, for the accuracy of rosters, and for keeping sign-in links and codes private.
We may suspend a Program that breaches these terms, puts other users or the Service at risk, or is used for anything other than educational assessment. Suspension blocks access but does not delete data.

3. No patient information

Do not enter protected health information (PHI) about real patients anywhere in the Service: case materials, notes, comments, or file uploads. Case materials must be fictional or de-identified to the HIPAA Safe Harbor standard.
The Service is not designed to hold PHI. We are not a HIPAA business associate of any Program and do not sign business associate agreements.
If PHI is uploaded by mistake, the Program must delete it promptly and tell us, so we can also remove it from backups.

4. Your data

Programs own the data they enter: rosters, cases, schedules, evaluations, and reports. We process it only to provide, secure, and support the Service, as described in the Privacy Policy. Programs can export their data at any time. Where learner evaluations are education records, the Program remains responsible for its obligations under applicable law (for example FERPA), and we act on the Program's instructions.

5. Educational use only

Scores, pass/fail indicators, and reports are formative educational tools configured by the Program. They are not affiliated with, endorsed by, or predictive of any certifying board's examination, including the American Board of Emergency Medicine. Programs decide how results are used.

6. Fair use of e-mail

E-mail sent on behalf of a Program (codes, invitations, score reports) is limited per Program per day to protect delivery for everyone. The current limit is shown in the administrator console. Limits can be raised on request. E-mail can only be sent to people the Program has added (learners, examiners, administrators, and program-director addresses), and replies go to the Program.

7. Plans, payment, and discount codes

Price. The price of a paid plan is shown before you pay. Prices do not include taxes, which are added where required.
Payment. Payments are processed by Stripe. We never see or store card numbers. Institutions that need an invoice or purchase order can contact us.
Renewal. Paid plans are subscriptions and renew automatically at the end of each billing period until cancelled.
Cancelling. A Program owner can cancel at any time by contacting us. The plan stays active until the end of the period already paid for, and it does not renew.
Refunds. Fees already paid are not refunded, except where the law requires it or where we choose to at our discretion (for example, if the Service was unavailable on your exam day because of a fault on our side).
Price changes. We will give at least 30 days' notice of a price change. It applies from your next renewal, and you can cancel before then.
Missed payments. If a payment fails, Stripe retries it. If it still cannot be collected after we have told you, we may suspend the Program as described in section 2. Data is kept and can be exported.
Discount codes. We may issue discount codes, including codes that make the Service free, at our discretion. Codes may have a use limit or an expiry date, have no cash value, cannot be sold or transferred, and may be withdrawn if misused. A free plan given by code can be ended by us with at least 30 days' notice; the Program can then start a paid plan or export its data.

8. Acceptable use

Do not upload content you do not have the right to use, attempt to access another Program's data, probe or overload the Service, or share credentials.

9. Availability

We aim for high availability, but the Service is provided "as is" without warranty. Before each exam, Programs should download examiner packets and learner handouts as a paper backup.

10. Limitation of liability

To the fullest extent permitted by law, we are not liable for indirect, incidental, or consequential damages arising from use of the Service. Our total liability is limited to the amount paid for the Service in the twelve months before the claim.

11. Changes and termination

We may update these terms, with notice in the Service. Programs may stop using the Service at any time. A Program owner can delete the Program and all its data from the Administration page, or ask us to, as described in the Privacy Policy. Deleting a Program does not cancel a paid plan by itself; cancel it as described in section 7.

12. Contact

Questions about these terms: reply to any e-mail from MockBoards or contact us through your Program's administrator.