Download PDF
CC BY-NC-ND 4.0 · Avicenna J Med 2021; 11(01): 40-41
DOI: 10.4103/ajm.ajm_154_20
Brief Report

USMLE step 1 pass/fail: the impact on international medical graduates

Mohammad Al-Akchar
Division of Cardiology, PGY4, Southern Illinois University, Springfield, Illinois
,
Mohsin Salih
Division of Cardiology, PGY4, Southern Illinois University, Springfield, Illinois
,
Zaher Fanari
Department of Cardiology, Heartland Cardiology/Wesley Medical Center, University of Kansas School of Medicine, Wichita, Kansas, USA
› Author Affiliations
Subject Editor: Financial support and sponsorship Nil.
› Further Information
   Permissions and Reprints

Abstract

On February 12th, 2020, and after a yearlong discussion, the National Board of Medical Examiners (NBME) announced that the reporting of the U.S. Medical Licensing Examination (USMLE) step one exam will transition to pass/fail reporting system and is expected to kick in as early as 2022. The decision was met with various responses, especially by the IMG community. In this paper, we discuss this change and its effect on IMG trainees and their selection process.

Keywords

IMG - pass-fail - USMLE


Publication History

Article published online:
06 August 2021

© 2021. Syrian American Medical Society. This is an open access article published by Thieme under the terms of the Creative Commons Attribution-NonDerivative-NonCommercial-License, permitting copying and reproduction so long as the original work is given appropriate credit. Contents may not be used for commercial purposes, or adapted, remixed, transformed or built upon. (https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-nc-nd/4.0/).

Thieme Medical and Scientific Publishers Private Ltd.
A-12, Second Floor, Sector -2, NOIDA -201301, India

 

  • References

  • 1 Invitational Conference on USMLE Scoring (InCUS). United States Medical Licensing Examination website. Available from: www.usmle.org/inCus/#info. [Last accessed on 2020 Mar 7]
    Google Scholar
  • 2 Education Commision for Foreign Medical Graduates (ECFMG). Available from: https://www.ecfmg.org/about/index.html. [Last accessed 2020 Mar 7]
  • 3 The United States Medical Licensing Exam (USMLE) and medical student wellness: An ethnographic qualitative study at Cooper Medical School of Rowan University. Available from: https://rdw.rowan.edu/cgi/viewcontent.cgi?referer=https://www.google.com/&httpsredir= 1&article=3152&context=etd. [Last accessed 2020 Jul 3]
    Google Scholar
  • 4 Chen DR, Priest KC, Batten JN, Fragoso LE, Reinfeld BI, Laitman BM. Student perspectives on the “step 1 climate” in preclinical medical education. Acad Med 2019; 94: 302-4
    CrossrefPubMedGoogle Scholar
  • 5 Chaudhry HJ, Katsufrakis PJ, Tallia AF. The USMLE step 1 decision: An opportunity for medical education and training. JAMA Published online March 06 2020; DOI: 10.1001/jama.2020.3198.
    CrossrefPubMedGoogle Scholar
  • 6 Alsayid M, Jandali IS, Alahdab F. Trends in the performance of Syrian physicians in the National Resident Matching Program® between 2017 and 2019. Avicenna J Med 2019; 9: 154-9 Published 2019 Oct 3 DOI: 10.4103/ajm.AJM_140_19.
    Article in Thieme ConnectPubMedGoogle Scholar
  • 7 U.S. Department of State. Presidential Proclamation 9645 and Presidential Proclamation 9983. 2018 Available from: https://travel.state.gov/content/travel/en/us-visas/visa-information-resources/presidential-proclamation-archive/presidential-proclamation9645.html?wcmmode=disabled. [Last accessed on 2020 Sep 17]
    PubMedGoogle Scholar
  • 8 Cullen MW, Black KM, Mankad SV, Brozovich FV, Klarich KW. Predicting Educational Performance in Cardiology Fellowship. Available from: https://www.acc.org/~/media/Non-Clinical/Files-PDFs-Excel-MS-Word-etc/Membership/Cardiology%20Training%20and%20Workforce%20Committee/Presentations/Research%20Posters/2016/Cullen-Educational-Performance-in-Cardiology-Fellowship.pdf?la=en. [Last accessed on 2020 June 21]
    Google Scholar
  • 9 Fanari Z. Effect of changes in visa policies and procedures on fellows-in-training and early career cardiologists. J Am Coll Cardiol 2017; 69: 3115-7
    CrossrefPubMedGoogle Scholar