National Board of Medical Examiners

The NBME was founded in Philadelphia in 1915, with the goal of creating a voluntary medical licensing exam that would be accepted by U.S. states and territories in lieu of their own exams, allowing physicians to practice across state lines.[10] Use of NBME Certifying Examinations ("Part" exams) grew in the years following its founding and in the years leading up to World War II. Prior to the war, states still administered their own exams, and operated agreements to license doctors passed by other state exams through membership in the Federation of State Medical Boards (FSMB).[11] But by 1943, 45 of the 48 states accepted NBME exams for licensure along with their state exams.[10] After the war, states continued to use the results of an NBME exam to decide whether to award medical licenses. This system meant students from different states would sit the same exam.[11] By 1992, 49 of the 50 US states accepted NBME exams for licensure along with their state exams.

The United States Medical Licensing Examination (USMLE), introduced in 1992, is a multi-part professional exam sponsored by the Federation of State Medical Boards (FSMB) and NBME. Medical students attending U.S. institutions are required to pass USMLE Step 1 and Step 2 Clinical Knowledge to enter into residency training where they treat patients under supervision.[12][13][14] Graduates of international medical schools seeking a medical residency in the United States generally take Step 1 and Step 2 CK after obtaining a MD or equivalent degree.[15] USMLE Step 3 must be passed before a Doctor of Medicine can apply to obtain a license to practice unsupervised medicine in the United States.[16] Because medical licenses are awarded by states, the process can vary depending on the state in which a MD or DO holder is seeking licensure. Some states cap the number times the USMLE Step exams can be taken or provide a time limit for completing the sequence of licensing exams.[17]

To assist examinees, NBME maintains a web portal that provides access to self-assessment test forms to help medical students practice for upcoming exams such as the USMLE Step 1, USMLE Step 2 CK, NBME Subject Exams, and the International Foundations of Medicine (IFOM) exams.[18] Beginning in 2021, most self-assessments became available in test forms that provide detailed answer explanations for both correct and incorrect answers.[19] As of March 24, 2021, NBME assessment form numbers 25, 26, 27, 28, 29, and 30 replaced retired form numbers 18 through 24.[18]

• President – Dr. Peter Katsufrakis
• Chair – Dr. Alfred Tallia[22]
• Vice chair – Dr. Latha Chandran[22]
• Treasurer – Dr. Reena Karani[22]
• Executive Board – Suzanne Anderson, Maya Hammoud, Kamili Wilson, Dr. Marie Foley, Dr. David Milling, Dr. Karen Sanders Dr. Danny M. Takanishi, Jr. , and Zach Weismann[23]

In 2018, NBME President Peter Katsufrakis and FSMB President Humayun Chaudhry co-authored an invited commentary titled Improving Residency Selection Requires Close Study and Better Understanding of Stakeholder Needs. Their article was in response to a previously published article on the "climate" medical students experienced around Step 1 of the USMLE and use of exam results in residency selection.[24] In one line of the article, Katsufrakis and Chaudhry theorized that pass/fail score reporting for the USMLE Step 1 exam that required less study time could result in a less knowledgeable population of physicians if students used the gained time to binge-watch Netflix or using social media platforms such as Instagram.[25][26]

• National Board of Osteopathic Medical Examiners
• United States Medical Licensing Examination