Prescribed strategy

Updated on: Monday, November 29, 2010

If you thought it was only the SAT, TOEFL and GRE which caught the fancy of the student community, then add one more test to the list. It’s USMLE or the United States Medical Licensing Exam. According to the American Association of Physicians of Indian Origin (AAPI), there are approximately 61,000 doctors of Indian origin who are currently working in the US. And the US may allow nearly 5,000 more Indian doctors for residency training every year.

But first things first. Let’s take a closer look at the test. The USMLE is sponsored by the Federation of State Medical Boards of the United States, Inc. (FSMB), and the National Board of Medical Examiners (NBME). The results of the USMLE are sent to the medical licensing authorities to grant initial licenses to practice medicine. Any medical aspirant, be he an Indian or American, who intends to work as a doctor in the US has to pass this test, get ECFMG certified and then complete his/her residency in order to work in a specified field.

USMLE consists of three steps. Most questions are in a multiple-choice, best-answer format. In short, there may be several responses that are somewhat correct, but the trick is to choose the one which is most correct.

Step 1 is a computerised exam of 350 multiple-choice questions split into seven sections that are primarily related to your knowledge of basic science. The exam takes approximately eight hours — one hour for each section and an hour’s break in between. Be prepared for a few surprise elements which are not taught in Indian medical schools like Behavioural Science.

Step 2 comprises two parts. The first dimension, CK (Clinical Knowledge), focuses on normal development and basic medical ethics. Step 2’s second dimension, CS (Clinical Skills) concerns four general types of medical service: preventive medicine and health maintenance; understanding the mechanisms of disease, establishing a diagnosis; and applying the principles of management.

In general, you will be presented with a medical scenario and required to give a diagnosis, prognosis, an account of the underlying reasons for the condition, and a forecast of the subsequent steps in treatment. This is nothing short of a real-life clinical experience. There will be 370 questions and the process takes nine hours — spread over the course of a day.

Step 3 is the final part and unlike the other two parts, it takes two days to complete. The first session consists of 336 multiple-choice questions split into seven sections that are designed to test the ability of a candidate to practice medicine independently. Typically candidates appear for this exam after finishing their first year in residency.

You can appear for Step 1 after completing the second year of your MBBS. Access application information from www.ecfmg.org or email: [email protected]. After submitting your application and receiving a scheduling permit, you need to register with Prometric, the company which hosts many international exams worldwide. There are seven Prometric testing sites in India — Allahabad, Ahmedabad, Gurgaon (New Delhi), Mumbai, Hyderabad, Bengaluru and Chennai.

This is one of the toughest exams to crack but you can register with NBME and take mock tests to see how you fare.

Many aspirants use Kaplan notes and refer to the USMLE World (UW) online question bank, both of which are considered Bibles for this test.

Fees
Step 1: $835
Step 2 CK: $850
Step 2 CS: $1200
Step 3: $680
For more information, log on to www.usmle.org

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