US Medical Licensing Examination

USMLE - United States Medical Licensing Examination is a test conducted primarily as an admission level competency for the entry into the medical fraternity colleges of the United States of America and Canada. The examination assesses a student's readiness for the College and is intended to help the Federation of State Medical Boards (FSMB) and the National Board of Medical Examiners (NBME). It is a three step examination assessing a physician's ability to utilize medical knowledge, concepts and demonstrate the patient related skills considered important. This finally provides a license for an individual to practice medicine without supervision.

There are two forms of IELTS - Academic and General Training.
The Academic Test is for people applying for higher education or exploring job opportunities in an English speaking atmosphere. It focuses on evaluation of academic language which is quintessential for studying or training.
The General Training Test is for those individuals approaching English speaking countries for secondary education, work experience or training. This test is also used for immigration purposes in the countries of Australia, Canada, UK and New Zealand. Basic language skills essential for social and professional communication is evaluated.

Eligibility:

Students are required to be a medical graduate of the Medical Schools recognized by the World Directory of Medical Schools (list found on: https://search.wdoms.org/ )
Students are expected to have a valid documented proof of their identity such as a Passport book. If the student is traveling to another country to give the examination, he is expected to carry the Passport book.
If the student has withdrawn his admission or was dismissed from their parent medical institute, they have lost the eligibility to appear for USMLE. This stands so even if the student is appealing the decision of the institute.
If the student is on leave of absence they are requested to check with the registration bodies for the eligibility before applying, if already registered do check with them before testing.
Individuals who have passed Step 2 prior to the implementation of Step 2 CS are not permitted to take Step 2 CK except under the exceptions mentioned in the Retake Policy. They may however take the Step 2 CS.
It is mandatory for all individuals to pass the examinations (step 1, step 2 CS i.e. Clinical Skills, and step 2 CK i.e. Clinical Knowledge, may be done in any order), but if one fails Step 2 CS they are not eligible to attempt Step 3.
To attempt Step 3, the individual must either obtain a MD (or an equivalent degree), or may pursue the LCME Accredited US (and Canadian) Medical institute or the AOA Accredited US (and Canadian) Medical institute or a Medical institute meeting the ECFMG eligibility. They have to have cleared Step 1, Step 2 (CS and CK) and obtain certification by ECFMG (Educational Commission for Foreign Medical Graduates). The Fifth Pathway Certificates (Certain students who have completed four years at a foreign medical institute and are capable of doing clinical work in US under supervision, become eligible for US Residency training to obtain a License to practice in US) will no longer be accepted.
The program allows an individual a total of 6 attempts and if has exhausted these attempts (unsuccessful step attempts or the cumulative test attempt) will remain ineligible to apply again. A Step or the Step component may not be taken more than three times within a span of a year. The fourth and subsequent attempts must be must be 12 months after the first attempt and 6 months after the most recent attempt.
If a student have been granted a license by a US Medical Licensing Authority based on previous licensure examinations (FLEX - Federation Licensing Examination; NBME- National Board of Medical Advisors), they lose their eligibility to take the USMLE.

Fee for the Examination:

The fee is tentatively at Rs 2,29,370/- excluding the International Test Delivery Surcharge. The fee will vary as per the Rupee-Dollar rates. There are additional charges for cancelling, shifting the dates, extension of the validity and various other adjustments as desire or required by the individual.

Duration:

The total time period spent in giving the examination is five days. This is excluding the required time period expected to be maintained between two successive steps or attempts.

Validity:

This test is valid for seven years from the time the student attempts the first Step attempt. If all the steps are not successfully cleared in the period of seven years the earliest successfully cleared steps will not be valid for ECFMG certification.

Test specifications:

The USMLE is a three step examination with the second step divided into 2 steps and hence can be understood to be Step 1, Step 2 (CS i.e. Clinical Skills, and CK i.e. Clinical Knowledge) and Step 3.

Step 1 is a one day (8 hour long) long examination divided into seven components, each of 60 minutes. Each component has various numbers of questions not exceeding a component total of 40. Totally there will not be more than 280 questions.

Step 2 CK is a one day (9 hour long) long examination, divided into eight blocks of 60 minutes each. The number of questions asked will differ among the blocks and the number of questions will be stated in the beginning of the block but won't exceed 40 questions per block. A maximum possible of 318 questions are to be answered totally. Principles of clinical science are divided in the physician's task and the disease category, which are analyzed through how well the knowledge can be applied by the student.

Step 2 CS is a one day long examination, divided into eight blocks of 60 minutes each. First there will be a mandatory on-site orientation, post which the student has 12 patient encounters and 15 minutes allotted for each patient. The encounter may finish early and the student is allowed to leave, but once left, re-entry into the examination room is not permitted. During re-takes of the examinations, similar cases may present themselves, but it is expected that the case be taken as a fresh one, The standardized patients are used to test the students' ability to gather information from the patients by performing physical examinations (with some exceptions) and communicate the same to the patients and the students’ colleagues. After the Encounter is done, 10 minutes are allotted to make a patient note which is expected to be typed in the format required. The student is expected to write a report of the information provided, his findings though the examination, and mention probable diagnosis.

Step 3 which is the final examination is spanned over two days. The first day (7 hours long) includes 233 multiple choice questions split into 6 blocks of 38-40 questions each. Each block is slotted for 60 minutes each. The second day (9 hours long) has 180 multiple choice questions which are divided into 6 blocks of 30 items, and 45 minutes is allotted for the completion of each block. A 7 minute Computer based CSS (Case Stimulation) tutorial, after which 13 such cases are presented which are given a maximum of 20 minutes each.

On the Step 2 - CK, the students have a minimum of 45 minutes of break time and a 15 minute optional tutorial. The break time may be increased by finishing a block or the optional tutorial before the allotted time finishes. In Step 3, on both the days the students have the similar schedule but have a 5 minute long optional tutorial. The second day of the Step 3 has an optional survey at the end which can be given if time permits.

Test Centers in India:

There IDP organization and the British Council of India conduct the IELTS, the following website would be able to assist the student locate the closest center of the 77 centers available - https://www.ielts.org/book-a-test/find-a-test-location/location-list/India/tv

Contact details:

The centers for either steps of the USMLE are done in the Prometric Testing Centers which can be found through the following link: Click Here
The contact details for specific issues can be found on the following link: Contact Details
Official Website - http://www.usmle.org/