USMLE Exam
The USMLE(United States Medical Licensing Examination) is a multi-part professional exam sponsored by the FSMB (Federation of State Medical Boards) and the NBME (National Board of Medical Examiners). Before being permitted to practice medicine in the United States of America medical doctors with an M.D. degree are required to pass this examination.
The USMLE assesses a physician’s ability to apply knowledge, principles, and concepts, and to determine fundamental patient-centered skills that are important in disease and health and that constitute the basis of effective and safe patient care. Examination committees composed of medical educators and clinicians from across the United States and its territories prepare the examination materials each year.
Students and graduates of U.S. or Canadian medical school programs accredited by the LCME (Liaison Committee on Medical Education), leading to the M.D. (Doctor of Medicine) degree, or by the AOA (American Osteopathic Association), leading to the D.O. (Doctor of Osteopathic Medicine) degree, register for Step 1 and Step 2 of the USMLE with the NBME.
Students and graduates of medical schools outside the Canada or United States register for Step 1 and Step 2 with the ECFMG (Educational Commission for Foreign Medical Graduates). Graduates of medical schools in and outside the United States and Canada register for Step 3 with the FSMB or with a medical licensing authority in the United States. Each of the three steps of the USMLE examination complements the other; no step stands alone in the assessment of readiness for medical licensure. The USMLE program recommends that for Step 3 eligibility, licensure authorities require the completion, or near completion, of at least one postgraduate training year in a program of graduate medical education accredited by the ACGME (Accreditation Council on Graduate Medical Education) or the AOA (American Osteopathic Association).
