Hi Supporters!
In a great first step, USMLE has announced a 12-18 month suspension of Step 2 CS with plans to refund payments to students! I firmly believe our petition, with more than 3,200 signatures, made an impact in this decision-making process. I am proud of the work we did to voice a unified set of concerns about a virtual Step 2 CS that was going to be rolled out too quickly.
We still believe that Step 2 CS holds little value in the licensing of medical school graduates or in the application process for residency programs. The 12-18 month suspension of the exam is a necessary first step that hopefully results in elimination of the exam altogether.
If they choose to administer Step 2 CS after a suspension period, however, we will require a significant amount of information, including:
- Whether Step 2 CS will be required for the licensing of graduating medical students, particularly the graduating class of 2021
- If students and 2021 graduates will be able to sign up for and complete Step 3 as needed, without Step 2 CS completed
- Requirements for future testing of the thousands of medical students who will now very likely be graduating medical school without Step 2 CS completed
- How the exam will be redesigned, and what validation and evaluation of the new exam has taken place
- How NBME and USMLE plan to improve access to the exam, financially and location-wise
- Whether they plan to utilize a virtual space to administer the exam, and, if so, further information about the use of virtual testing methods, technical support, and expectations
To ensure that NBME and USMLE do not simply start administering the same Step 2 CS exam that was previously in place, we urge them to quickly create a committee that incorporates medical students, residents, residency program directors, and medical school deans - all of whom can weigh in on the issue, and whose voices must be heard during this valuable time.
Again, thank you to everyone who signed, shared and supported our cause to end Step 2 CS. This recent announcement is a significant step forward, and hopefully more positive announcements continue to come from the organizations in charge.
Thank you!