USMLE Information

USMLE- United States Medical Licence Examination. This is an exam taken by Doctors to get licence and practice in the USA. Anyone who wish to work in the states as a Doctor has to take this exam, whether he is an American Medical graduate (AMG) or a Foreign Medical Graduate (FMG or IMG). Although,I had done my post graduation from India, I had to take these tests to get into residency in the USA. So, no matter what degree you have from your own country, you have to do reisdency again in the USA. USMLE has three steps-Step 1, Step 2 CK (Clinical Knowledge) & CS (Clinical Skills) and Step 3. you can take either Step 1 first or Step 2 first. I started with Step 1. It tests your basic knowledge in subjects like Anatomy, Physiology, Biochemistry, Pharmacology, Pathology and Ethics. Its a do-able exam. The second step tests your clinical knowledge in subjects like Medicine, Surgery, Pediatrics, Ob/GYN, Psychiatry and Ethics. Easier than Step 1. Both the exams are computer based exams and 8 hour long. They have 7 blocks with 46 questions each. You have to finish each block in one hour.Step 2 CS tests your clinical skills and for FMG's ,they test your english speaking skills. If you need any kind of visa, you have to take step 3 before residency, otherwise you can take it anytime during your residency. This was the basic idea of USMLE.

I will share my experiences and some tips on how to prepare for these exams in my next post.