USMLE Step 1

The USMLE Step 1 (more commonly just Step 1 or colloquially, The Boards) is the first part of the United States Medical Licensing Examination. It assesses whether medical school students or graduates can apply important concepts of the sciences fundamental to the practice of medicine. US medical students typically take Step 1 at the end of the second year of medical school. Graduates of international medical schools must also take Step 1 if they want to practice in the US. Graduates from international medical schools must apply through ECFMG and the registration fee is $820.^[1] For 2014, the NBME registration fee for the test is $580, with additional charges for applicants who choose a testing region outside the United States or Canada.^[2]

Format

The exam is an eight-hour computer-based test taken in a single-day, composed of seven 46-question sections with a total of 322 multiple-choice questions.^[3] One hour is the time provided for each section, allotting an average of a minute and eighteen seconds to answer each question.^[4] Between test sections, the test taker is allotted a cumulative 45 minutes (during the test day) for personal breaks. (There is a 15 minute tutorial at the beginning of the exam, which the test-taker can choose to skip and have that time added to break time.) If the taker finishes any section before the allotted one hour time limit, the unused time is added to the break time total.^[5] The test is administered at any of several Prometric computer testing sites.

Subjects

Step 1 is designed to test the knowledge learned during the basic science years of medical school. This includes anatomy, behavioral sciences, biochemistry, microbiology, pathology, pharmacology, and physiology, as well as to interdisciplinary areas including genetics, aging, immunology, nutrition, and molecular and cell biology.^[6] Epidemiology, medical ethics and questions on empathy are also emphasized. Each exam is dynamically generated for each test taker; while the general proportion of questions derived from a particular subject is the same, some test takers report that certain subjects are either emphasized or deemphasized.

Scoring

The USMLE phased out the use of a percentile based system in 1999. Examinees receive a three-digit score and a two-digit score; the latter of which is not a percentile. The three-digit score is a scaled score with a mean that fluctuates test year to test year, and a standard deviation of approximately 21.^[7] The three-digit score is calculated using a statistical percentile that ensures that scores from different years are read on a common scale, since the exam is known to get progressively more difficult as the years go on. The two digit score is a scaled score that defines 75 as the minimum passing score, which is equivalent to a 188 on the three-digit scale.^[8] The three-digit score is more commonly used. As of October 3, 2011, USMLE began the process of eliminating the reporting of results on the two-digit score scale to any parties, including residency programs, other than the examinee and any state licensing authority to which the examinee sends results.

A score of 192 is needed to pass^[9] the test. As of July 2013, the national mean score is 227, with a standard deviation of approximately 22; an increase from the previous four means, which were 220 (standard deviation of 20), 221 (standard deviation of 23), 218 (standard deviation of 23) and 215 (standard deviation 20). Many top residency programs use a "cutoff" score for Step 1, below which applicants are unlikely to be considered. Most other residency programs follow a similar "cutoff," but will allow consideration of applicants with significantly higher Step 2 scores.

Effect on Residency Matching

The USMLE score is one of many factors considered by residency programs in selecting applicants. However, at present, this test is the only standardized measure of all applicants. The median USMLE Step 1 scores for graduates of U.S. Medical Schools for various residencies are charted in Chart 6 on page 9 of "Charting Outcomes in the Match" available through NRMP Webstite

See also

• USMLE Step 2CK
• USMLE Step 2CS
• USMLE Step 3

References

External links

• USMLE Official Website