Category: Step 2 CK

Resuming United States Medical Licensing Examination (USMLE^®) testing remains the USMLE program’s top priority. Below, please read several key updates.

Status of Prometric Testing
Testing resumed at select Prometric centers on Friday, May 1 in accordance with state and local social distancing guidelines. Although hundreds of examinees successfully tested, the overall examinee experience is not meeting expectations. The USMLE program continues to exert pressure on Prometric to rectify all issues in a timely manner. The USMLE program is working daily with Prometric and they have dedicated resources to both resume USMLE testing and address the quality of the examinee experience.

The USMLE program understands that when Prometric test centers reopened, some examinees with confirmed slots traveled to test centers only to find them closed, leading to increased confusion during an already difficult situation. The USMLE program has been disappointed with Prometric’s failure to fulfill its obligations to examinees and to the USMLE program. The USMLE program has emphasized to Prometric the importance of their obligations to examinees and the harm that their failures have caused.

Examinees who have suffered direct out-of-pocket monetary losses due to Prometric’s lack of communication or miscommunication regarding test center closures should submit a written claim directly to Prometric at prometric.com/contact-us.

In March 2020, in response to the suspension in testing, the USMLE program extended eligibility periods to December 2020 for all examinees who had a Step 1, Step 2 Clinical Knowledge (CK), or Step 3 scheduling permit with an unexpired eligibility period with an end date in 2020. To help alleviate some of the pressure examinees may be feeling, USMLE will further extend eligibility periods through June 2021.

• Note: Eligibility period extensions will be processed approximately over the next eight to twelve weeks.

Alternate Delivery of USMLE Step 1, Step 2 CK, and Step 3
To resume testing, the USMLE program has already identified several options for proctored testing outside of Prometric centers. The USMLE program is expecting to begin testing at some medical school campuses this month. USMLE is committed to offering a broader distribution of testing at medical schools; it is working through technological challenges in order to do so. While this solution will not completely address the testing backlog, it will provide additional USMLE-specified slots within Prometric’s overall capacity, which is increasing. Schools are being considered based on geographic location and a willingness to serve as a regional testing site. Because the USMLE program is not able to scale this solution to all schools, it plans to deliver other solutions as well. The USMLE program will ramp-up testing as we institute new systems and processes.

The USMLE program continues to aggressively explore remote proctoring and expects to have progress to report on the timeline for that project in the next week.

Validity, Reliability, and Fairness
The USMLE program recognizes the burden that reduced testing capacity places on schools and examinees. As the USMLE program moves forward with solutions to alleviate this burden, it must also evaluate the fairness of any test administration method. The USMLE program needs to ensure that its test administration models allow all test takers to reliably and validly demonstrate their skills and maximize, to the extent possible, fairness, access, security, and reliability. Increasing capacity by deploying exam administrations to schools may create differential geographic access. Similarly, with respect to remote proctoring, the USMLE program recognizes that not all schools or individuals have equal access to high-speed internet, a computer that meets the technology requirements for remote proctoring, or dedicated space in which to take the test.

Given these issues of fairness and bias, the USMLE program will continue to work with organizations in the medical education and the medical regulatory community to identify temporary changes to policy and requirements such as relaxing requirements for promotion, graduation, or licensing decisions. The USMLE program is committed to continuing its focus on delivering safe testing and fair test results for examinees.

Step 2 CS
As announced previously, Step 2 Clinical Skills (CS) testing has been suspended due to the COVID-19 (coronavirus) pandemic, and the USMLE program is pursuing testing solutions to ensure the health and safety of examinees and test center staff. After careful consideration, the USMLE program has determined that it cannot resume the exam in its current format without unacceptable risk to examinees and staff.

Prior to COVID-19, the USMLE program was in the very early stages of exploring alternate formats and methods for delivery of the Step 2 CS exam, as part of overall efforts to enhance the USMLE. As a result of COVID-19, these plans have been accelerated and are focused on a testing solution that employs a telehealth model, where examinees and standardized patients would interact on-line, via a web browser. The USMLE program is aggressively assessing this solution, which will require significant redesign of the exam’s content and delivery. Expediting such changes to the exam format and delivery will help result in a safe and effective assessment for all involved.

At this time, Step 2 CS testing is expected to resume after July.

Please know that the USMLE program is doing everything it can to address the challenges of this new environment quickly, and that it will continue to provide you with updates on its progress.

Dear International Medical School Educators, Students, and Graduates:

We recognize that the disruptions to USMLE testing present an extraordinary challenge for all of you. Finding a means to restore USMLE testing is a top organizational priority. Our goal is to collaborate with you as we determine how to assure rapid and safe resumption of testing across a variety of venues. We recognize the impact on both U.S. domestic students as well as those of you in our international community.

Status on Prometric Testing

We are receiving reports that several Prometric test centers are erroneously listed as open, and some examinees with confirmed slots were met with closed centers when Prometric resumed limited testing on May 1st. This has led to a confusing and difficult situation for examinees. We are deeply disturbed by the experience you may be having and are working to immediately find resolution to these issues.

Prometric CEO, Roy Simrell, is aware of our shared dissatisfaction with the current situation and the need for a clear and immediate plan to rectify the problems experienced by examinees. We have been, and continue to be, in daily contact with Prometric to represent the needs of the examinees and faculty to improve the execution of the safe resumption of testing and Prometric’s communication with examinees. We have emphasized the impact their actions have on this critical community and the need to ensure examinees are provided timely and reliable information.

We expect capacity constraints and challenges to continue. For this reason, we are working hard to design and deliver solutions even outside of Prometric test centers.

Alternate Delivery of USMLE Step 1, Step 2 CK, and Step 3

We have several efforts underway to resume testing and to address testing backlog and capacity constraints. We have incorporated the suggestions and ideas we have received from medical students, medical school faculty, state medical boards, and our international partners in this work, and will seek to partner even more closely as we move forward with implementation. We expect to have better insight on feasible alternatives and associated requirements within the next week. We will continue to provide at least weekly updates of our progress at usmle.org and ecfmg.org.

Step 2 CS

We are dedicated to finding a testing solution for Step 2 CS that assures the safety of examinees and standardized patients as our top priority. We have a dedicated team exploring innovative and disruptive solutions to resume Step 2 CS examinations. This includes options that alleviate the need to travel to examination centers. We expect to have more news next week.

Partnership

Working together, we can respond to the challenges wrought by the COVID pandemic and ensure the continued excellence of America’s future physicians.