
for example, leadership of an organization or activity that they might be freed up to do because the shackles of Step 1 are released in a way. Henderson, an AMA member, advised medical students “to think about the other elements of their application that would be viewed favorably in such a holistic process. Henderson and his colleagues are trying to gauge other attributes, such as “resilience, work ethic or dedication, and capacity for improvement, things that make them good physicians, at least for internal medicine,” he said.ĭr. Other than an applicant’s having passed, Davis doesn’t have a cutoff score, unlike other schools. His program has moved away from using Step 1 or Step 2 as a key metric in sorting for interviews or residency positions. Henderson, MD, is heavily in involved in the residency-selection process. In his role as vice chair for education in internal medicine at UC Davis, Mark C. Still, there are many concerns that for medical students who don’t have a numerical Step 1 score-those who took the exam after January 2022-that a numerical score on Step 2 may simply replace Step 1 as a sorting metric for interview slots, and, ultimately, residency positions.Īccording to a 2021 survey of residency program directors (PDF), Step 2 score was already among the top criteria in selecting which candidates to interview. One idea behind moving Step 1 to pass-fail is to lower the emphasis on high-stakes exams in the residency-selection process. What do changes to Step 1 mean for Step 2? What do changes to Step 1 mean for Step 2? Get information on COMLEX Level 1 going pass-fail.
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If you're looking for additional resources, Kaplan provides free access to tools for pre-clinical studies, including Kaplan’s Lecture Notes series, Integrated Vignettes, Shelf Prep and more.


The AMA and Kaplan have teamed up to support you in reaching your goal of passing the USMLE® or COMLEX-USA®. “It's well-documented that peers-who are probably the people that they often talk to-while very well-intentioned, typically relay their own experience rather than the evidence and data about learning.” Arnold, PhD, director of the office of student learning and educational resources at the University of California, Davis, School of Medicine. This means you are no longer dependent on the previous three-digit score. “They should talk to the people who understand learning approaches, testing approaches, cognitive skills development,” said Joanna C. Error Recognition (17 questions) Incomplete Sentences (20 questions) Photographs (15 questions) Question-Response (20 questions) Reading Comprehension (10. Update: The USMLE® Step 1 exam switches to a Pass/Fail exam as of January 26, 2022.

Since Step 2 is largely rooted in your knowledge of clinical medicine, your performance on National Board of Medical Examiners Subject Exams, commonly referred to as shelf exams, is probably a good place to start when it comes to knowing your deficiencies.īeyond that, seek guidance from your medical school’s office of academic support. Who should help you assess your weaknesses? Who should help you assess your weaknesses?
