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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 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.
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Software Description
Each of the MCQ sections is provided in two formats, the
NBME Test Delivery Software known as FREDV1 and the new NBME Test Delivery Software
known as FREDV2.
Migration of Step 2 CK to this new test delivery software began in August of 2008.
Migration of Step 1 and Step 3 to the new test delivery software will occur in
2009. Please monitor the USMLE website announcements section to check for changes in test delivery software.
For links to all announcements related to the new test delivery software, please click here.
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. |
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System and Software Requirements
- Windows® 2000, XP or Vista® with administrator privileges
- Intel® Pentium® or higher processor recommended
- 1 GHz or higher
- 512 MB RAM or higher
- 100 MB available on the hard drive
- 8x or higher CD-ROM drive
- Mouse
- Microsoft® Internet Explorer 6.0 or 7.0 (UPDATED August 12, 2009: now compatible with Internet Explorer 8)
- Windows® Media Player
- Adobe® Acrobat® Reader®
- Adobe® Flash® Player, 8.0 or higher
- Color display set to 24-Bit or True Color
- Resolution set to 1024 x 768 (or higher)
Please note: MacIntosh (Mac) and Linux are not supported.
All 2009 USMLE orientation materials
are available for download from the USMLE website. |
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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:
- From the main menu, click the link for the practice software or video you want to download.
- At the file download prompt, choose 'save'.
- Make a note of the name of the file you are downloading.
- In the dialog box that appears, you must designate a location on your computer to store this file. Choose "Desktop" or make a note of where this file is being saved.
- You can close your Internet browser when finished.
Unzipping downloaded files:
- If you use Vista, click here for help unzipping the downloaded file.
- If you use Windows XP, click here for help unzipping the downloaded file.
- If you use Windows 2000, please continue on with the steps listed here:
- These downloads are "zipped". If you do not have a utility to unzip the file, click here to get an evaluation copy of Winzip® that you can use for this purpose.
- Double click on the installation file to unzip it.
- Make a note of the name of the file you are unzipping.
- Choose "Desktop" for the location of the unzipped file (or make a note of where this file is saved.
- The Video does not need to be installed; it can be watched once it is unzipped. (please see Watching a Video below).
Installing practice materials:
- If you have any previous version of the USMLE practice
materials installed you may be asked to remove them before installing the
2009 practice materials.
- During installation, if you see a menu asking if you want "modify, repair or remove" components, this means that the installation program has detected a previous installation. Select Remove to uninstall any component currently on your machine and then run the installation program again to install the component you want to use.
- Navigate to the unzipped version of the file (it will end in
.exe).
- Double click on the file to begin the installation.
- Depending on your computer, you may see a warning message.
- If you see a security warning “authenticode signature
not found,” click 'Yes' to continue the installation.
- If you see a message that says that "the publisher could
not be verified," click 'Run' to continue the installation.
- On-screen prompts will guide you through the installation.
When installation is complete you should see entries on your program menu and one or more folders on your desktop for running the tutorials and practice test materials. After installation, if you do not see folder(s) on your desktop
please click on your Start button
and select All Programs. Folder(s) that
start with "2009 USMLE..."
will be on this list. |
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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 a USMLE folder on your desktop and double click on the practice software that you want to use.You may also access the USMLE folder(s) by clicking on your Start button and selecting All Programs. 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. |
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Watching the Step 2 Clinical Skills (CS) Video
The video does not need to be installed. Once you have downloaded
and unzipped the file, double click on it to play it. The
video is provided in windows media file format, which works best with Windows
Media Player, although other players may be used. Windows Media Player
can be obtained from the Microsoft® website.
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Reading
the Step 2 Clinical Skills (CS) Content Description and General Information Booklet and the Sample Patient Notes
You must use Adobe® Acrobat® Reader® to view and print
the booklet. Acrobat Reader can be installed
on your computer free from the Adobe
website. Click on the link on the main menu to open the booklet. |
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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. |
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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 © 1998-2008 the Federation of State Medical Boards of the United States,
Inc. and the National Board of Medical Examiners, except for the following: Copyright © 2007, 2008 the National Board of Medical Examiners as to the computer program test driver (FRED™ 2.0). Copyright © 2000-2008 the National Board of Medical Examiners as to the computer
program test driver (FRED™ 1.0). Primum® Computer-based Case Simulation
Software Version 8.2, Copyright © 1988-2008 the National Board of Medical
Examiners. Runtime library portions of the software included with permission
from Versant Corporation, Copyright © 1996. All rights reserved. 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
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. |
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