Student Handbook
(Excerpted from the 2001 and 2004 USMLE Bulletins of Information)
The Federation of State Medical Boards (FSMB) and the National Board of Medical Examiners (NBME) have established a single, three-step examination for initial medical licensure in the United States. The United States Medical Licensing Examination provides a common evaluation system for applicants for medical licensure. The USMLE replaces the Federation Licensing Examination (FLEX) and the NBME Parts I, II, and III.
In the United States and its territories, a license to practice medicine is a privilege granted only by the individual medical licensing authorities (“state medical boards”) of the various jurisdictions. Results of USMLE are reported to these authorities for use in granting the initial license to practice medicine. Each medical licensing authority sets its own rules and regulations, and all of them require, as part of their licensing processes, successful completion of an examination or other certification demonstrating qualifications for licensure.
The USMLE is designed to assess a physician’s ability to apply knowledge, concepts, and principles important in health and disease that constitute the basis for safe and effective patient care. The USMLE is a single examination program with three steps. Each step is complementary to the others; no step can stand alone in the assessment of readiness for medical licensure.
All these USMLE steps are computer-based and administered by Prometric, Inc. They are administered throughout the year. Detailed information about the examinations and procedures for applying to take them can be found on the NBME web page at www.nbme.org.
Step 1 assesses whether the student can apply the knowledge and understanding of key concepts of basic biomedical science, with an emphasis on principles and mechanisms of health, disease, and modes of therapy.
Step 2 of the USMLE assesses the ability of examinees to apply medical knowledge, skills, and understanding of clinical science essential for the provision of patient care under supervision, and includes emphasis on health promotion and disease prevention. Step 2 ensures that due attention is devoted to the principles of clinical sciences and basic patient-centered skills that provide the foundation for the safe and effective practice of medicine.
The Clinical Skills (CS) component of Step 2 supplements the Clinical Knowledge (CK) component. Step 2 CK uses the multiple-choice examination format to test clinical knowledge. Step 2 CS uses standardized patients to test medical students and graduates on their ability to gather information from patients, perform physical examinations, and communicate their findings to patients and colleagues.
Ordinarily Step 1 is taken in June following completion of the second-year curriculum and Step 2 is taken in the first six months of the year prior to graduation. Applications for both Steps 1 and 2 are made directly to NBME using forms available at www.nbme.org. All NYMC students are required to take Step 1 and both Step 2 CK and Step 2 CS. Students must pass Step 1 before entering the fourth year of study and pass Step 2 CK prior to graduation. In the near future, after experience with Step 2 CS is gained, it is expected that passage of Step 2 CS will become a graduation requirement at New York Medical College. Step 3 is taken after completing one year of postgraduate education.
