General Information

About the USMLE™

The United States Medical Licensing Examination™, or USMLE, is a three-step examination for medical licensure in the United States and is sponsored by the FSMB and the NBME. Students and graduates of US or Canadian medical school programs leading to the MD degree that are accredited by the Liaison Committee on Medical Education (LCME) or leading to the DO degree that are accredited by the American Osteopathic Association (AOA) register for Step 1 and Step 2 with the NBME. Students and graduates of medical schools outside the United States and Canada register for Step 1 and Step 2 with the ECFMG. Graduates of medical schools in and outside the United States and Canada register for Step 3 with the FSMB or a medical licensing authority in the United States.

About the USMLE Registration Entities and Sponsoring Organizations

The Educational Commission for Foreign Medical Graduates (ECFMG®) is a private, non-profit organization founded in 1956. The ECFMG promotes quality health care for the public by certifying international medical graduates for entry into US graduate medical education, and by participating in the evaluation and certification of other physicians and health care professionals. In conjunction with its Foundation for Advancement of International Medical Education and Research (FAIMER®), and other partners, it actively seeks opportunities to promote international medical education through programmatic and research activities. Through its program of certification, the Educational Commission for Foreign Medical Graduates (ECFMG®) assesses the readiness of international medical graduates to enter residency or fellowship programs in the United States that are accredited by the Accreditation Council for Graduate Medical Education (ACGME).

The Federation of State Medical Boards of the United States, Inc., (FSMB) is a national non-profit association with membership consisting of 70 medical licensing authorities in 50 American states, the District of Columbia, Guam, Puerto Rico, the Commonwealth of the Northern Mariana Islands and the US Virgin Islands. It is the Federation’s goal to provide services to its members to help them carry out the responsibilities mandated by state law. The FSMB was founded in 1912, as the result of a merger between the National Confederation of State Medical Examining and Licensing Boards (established in 1891) and the American Confederation of Reciprocating Examining and Licensing Boards (established in 1902). Its mission includes continual improvement in the quality, safety, and integrity of health care through the development and promotion of high standards for physician licensure and practice.

The National Board of Medical Examiners® (NBME®) is an independent, not-for-profit organization that provides high-quality examinations for the health professions. Protection of the health of the public through state of the art assessment of health professionals is the mission of the NBME, along with a major commitment to research and development in evaluation and measurement. The NBME was founded in 1915 because of the need for a voluntary, nationwide examination that medical licensing authorities could accept as the standard by which to judge candidates for medical licensure. Since that time, it has continued without interruption to provide high quality examinations for this purpose and has become a model and a resource of international stature in testing methodologies and evaluation in medicine.

For more information about the USMLE registration entities and sponsoring organizations, visit the ECFMG website at www.ecfmg.org, the FSMB website at www.fsmb.org, the NBME website at www.nbme.org, and the USMLE website at www.usmle.org.

Purpose of these Orientation and Practice Materials

These materials are intended to help orient individuals registered to take Step 1, Step 2 Clinical Knowledge (CK) and Clinical Skills (CS), and Step 3 of the USMLE. If you are not registered and would like more information on the examination or how to apply, visit the USMLE website. All applicants must review and become familiar with the USMLE Bulletin of Information, available at the USMLE website, before completing applications for USMLE Step 1, Step 2 (CK and CS), or Step 3.

     

Software Description

The software you install has over 100 practice test items and a software tutorial for each Step examination. Some practice items may include multimedia files, such as video or audio clips. There are five sample case simulations for Step 3. All Step 3 applicants must review the Primum CCS tutorial and practice with all the practice cases well in advance of the testing day to have a thorough understanding of how Primum CCS works.

     

System and Software Requirements


Please note: MacIntosh (Mac) and Linux are not supported.

All 2008 USMLE orientation materials are available for download from the USMLE website. If you receive materials on a CD, however, you do not need to download from the web.

     

Using files from the website

The Main Menu indicates which portions of the practice materials must be downloaded. The remaining links can be viewed or used online. All downloadable files are zipped.

Downloading from the website:

Unzipping downloaded files:

Installing practice materials:

After the installation is complete you should see entries on your program menu and a folder on your desktop for running the tutorials and practice test materials. If the desktop folder does not appear, click on your desktop area and press F5 to refresh your screen or right-click and select Refresh from the pop-up menu.

     

Running the Step 1, Step 2 CK, and Step 3 Tutorials, Practice Multiple-Choice Questions ("Test Items"), and Primum® Computer-based Case Simulations (CCS)

To view items you must set your screen resolution to 1024 x 768. Please use your manual or system's help if you need assistance changing these settings.

Once your resolution is set, open the USMLE folder on your desktop and double click on the practice software that you want to use. The MCQ items are found in the NBME Test Delivery Software. The Primum Computer-based Case Simulations may be run from the NBME Test Delivery Software or from the icon for Step 3 CCS.

     

Running the Fred V2 Tutorials and Practice Multiple-Choice Questions ("Test Items") on a computer using Vista

To run the practice materials on a computer using Vista you must login as an administrator. You will see messages from the Vista operating system saying that "Windows Firewall has blocked some features of this program". You must click the button marked Unblock each time this message appears.

Watching a Step 2 Clinical Skills (CS) Video

Videos do not need to be installed. Once you have downloaded and unzipped the file, double click on it to play it. The videos are provided in windows media file which works best with Windows Media Player, although other players may be used. Windows Media Player can be obtained from the Microsoft® website.

     

Reading the Step 2 Clinical Skills (CS) Content Description and General Information Booklet and the Sample Patient Notes

You must use Adobe® Reader® to view and print the booklet. Reader can be installed on your computer free from the Adobe website. Click on the link on the main menu to open the booklet.

     

Technical Support

If you have problems that you cannot resolve, visit the USMLE website for frequently-asked questions, send email to usmletech@nbme.org or call (215) 590-9700 from 8:30 AM to 4:00 PM Eastern Time in the United States, Monday through Friday.

     

Copyright Information

The United States Medical Licensing Examination is a joint program of the Federation of State Medical Boards of the United States, Inc. and the National Board of Medical Examiners. The orientation package includes proprietary information and materials that are owned and copyrighted by the Federation of State Medical Boards and the National Board of Medical Examiners.

Copyright © 1998-2007 the Federation of State Medical Boards of the United States, Inc. and the National Board of Medical Examiners, except for the following: Copyright © 2000-2006 National Board of Medical Examiners as to the computer program test driver (FRED™). Primum® Computer-based Case Simulation Software Version 8.2, Copyright © 1988-2007 the National Board of Medical Examiners. Runtime library portions of the software included with permission from Versant Corporation, Copyright © 1996. Portions of Step 2 CS orientation materials reproduced with permission from the Educational Commission for Foreign Medical Graduates (ECFMG®) Clinical Skills Assessment (CSA®) Candidate Orientation Video and Candidate Orientation Manual, Copyright © 2002 by the ECFMG. Microsoft® PowerPoint® Viewer, included in this software, is a product of Microsoft® Corporation. Permission to use this software and the other materials installed with it is limited to exam preparation or practice by individuals who are registered to take the examinations, and further reproduction, distribution, transmission, or other uses are prohibited without permission from the copyright holders.