USMLE stands for United States Medical Licensing Examination:
* Is an exam of 3 steps that will give you the medical license to practice in USA.
* Is designed to test the knowledge learned during the basic science years of medical school.
Step 1: An automated exam with multiple choice questions.
* The exam has 7 sections, each has 46 question, a total of 322 questions.
* It's taken in 8 hours in one day, 1 hour for each section and has personal breaks in between.
* You have 1 minute and 50 seconds to answer each question.
* Minimum score to pass is 188/322.
* The exam is highly competitive with a average score of 221.
Example question:
A 32-year-old woman with type 1 diabetes mellitus has had progressive renal failure over the past 2 years. She has not yet started dialysis. Examination shows no abnormalities. Her hemoglobin concentration is 9 g/dL, hematocrit is 28%, and mean corpuscular volume is 94 m3. A blood smear shows normochromic, normocytic cells.
Which of the following is the most likely cause?
* Choices range from 3-13 in number, many choices may be correct but you have to choose the most 'correct' one.
Step 2: has two parts, CK & CS (Clinical knowledge and Clinical skills).
CK:
* MCQ in 9 hours.
* Is generally taken during the 4th year of medical school by medical students. (in USA).
* Score 196/352 to pass(2012), but the minimum score changes according to students' results.
The USMLE Step 2 CK score is one of many factors considered by residency programs in selecting applicants. Along with the USMLE Step 1, this test is a standardized measure of all applicants.
CS:
* Briefly, consists of a series of patient encounters in which the examinees must see standardized patients (or telephone diagnosis), take a history, do a physical examination, determine differential diagnoses, and then write a patient note based on their determinations (15 minutes/each).
* Is graded on a pass/fail basis.
Step 3:
* You must have M.D or D.O degree and successfully passed previous steps.
* 75% is multiple choice questions and 25% clinical cases simulations.
* Pass rate is 84% (no worries). >.<