APSA Newsletter - Phi Psi » 2008 Winter, Volume 2, No. 3 » Changes to the USMLE?

Changes to the USMLE?

Eric Schauberger, Chair, APSA Policy Committee

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As many students are aware, there have been several tentatively proposed changes to the United States Medical Licensing Exam (USMLE). The two main proposals include combining the Step 1 and Step 2 exams into a single exam and a move to cease use of a numerical score in favor of a pass/fail.

As a student organization that is dedicated to the training of physician scientists, APSA members and leaders became concerned about how the changes might impact basic science education and, also how these changes could affect student physician scientists, who often take one year or more off in their training to perform research. Therefore, the Policy Committee was charged with addressing the (rather large) issue. At the time, it appeared that the largest source of student input regarding the proposed changes was chiefly from student panel discussions. Although several student organizations were aware or concerned about the proposed changes, it appeared that little was being done to find out what students actually felt about the changes. Therefore, APSA stepped into a role of leading the national student response to the proposed changes.