scholarly journals Testing and evaluation: the present and future of the assessment of medical professionals

2017 ◽  
Vol 41 (1) ◽  
pp. 149-153 ◽  
Author(s):  
Steven A. Haist ◽  
Agata P. Butler ◽  
Miguel A. Paniagua
Keyword(s):  
United States ◽  
Clinical Skills ◽  
Medical Schools ◽  
The United States ◽  
Self Assessment ◽  
National Board ◽  
Liaison Committee ◽  
Medical Graduates ◽  
Primary Driver ◽  
State Medical Boards

The aim of this review is to highlight recent and potential future enhancements to the United States Licensing Examination (USMLE) program. The USMLE program is co-owned by the National Board of Medical Examiners (NBME) and the Federation of State Medical Boards. The USMLE includes four examinations: Step 1, Step 2 Clinical Knowledge, Step 2 Clinical Skills, and Step 3; every graduate of Liaison Committee on Medical Education-accredited allopathic medical schools and all international medical graduates must pass this examination series to practice medicine in the United States. From 2006 to 2009, the program underwent an indepth review resulting in five accepted recommendations. These recommendations have been the primary driver for many of the recent enhancements, such as an increased emphasis on foundational science and changes in the clinical skills examination, including more advanced communication skills assessment. These recommendations will continue to inform future changes such as access to references (e.g., a map of metabolic pathways) or decision-making tools for use during the examination. The NBME also provides assessment services globally to medical schools, students, residency programs, and residents. In 2015, >550,000 assessments were provided through the subject examination program, NBME self-assessment services, and customized assessment services.

scholarly journals FSMB Census of Licensed Physicians in the United States, 2018

2019 ◽  
Vol 105 (2) ◽  
pp. 7-23 ◽  
Author(s):  
Aaron Young ◽  
Humayun J. Chaudhry ◽  
Xiaomei Pei ◽  
Katie Arnhart ◽  
Michael Dugan ◽  
...  
Keyword(s):  
United States ◽  
Health Care ◽  
Medical School ◽  
Census Data ◽  
Medical Schools ◽  
The United States ◽  
Geographic Region ◽  
Physician Workforce ◽  
Care Needs ◽  
State Medical Boards

ABSTRACT There are 985,026 physicians with Doctor of Medicine (MD) and Doctor of Osteopathic Medicine (DO) degrees licensed to practice medicine in the United States and the District of Columbia, according to physician census data compiled by the Federation of State Medical Boards (FSMB). These qualified physicians graduated from 2,089 medical schools in 167 countries and are available to serve a U.S. national population of 327,167,434. While the percentage of physicians who are international medical graduates have remained relatively stable over the last eight years, the percentage of physicians who are women, possess a DO degree, have three or more licenses, or are graduates of a medical school in the Caribbean have increased by varying degrees during that same period. This report marks the fifth biennial physician census that the FSMB has published, highlighting key characteristics of the nation's available physician workforce, including numbers of licensees by geographic region and state, type of medical degree, location of medical school, age, gender, specialty certification and number of active licenses per physician. The number of licensed physicians in the United States has been growing steadily, due in part to an expansion in the number of medical schools and students during the past two decades, even as concerns of a physician shortage to meet health care demands persist. The average age of licensed physicians continues to increase, and more licensed physicians appear to be specialty certified, though the latter finding may reflect more comprehensive reporting. This census was compiled using the FSMB's Physician Data Center (PDC), which collects, collates and analyzes physician data directly from the nation's state medical and osteopathic boards and is uniquely positioned to provide a comprehensive snapshot of information about licensed physicians. A periodic national census of this type offers useful demographic and licensure information about the available physician workforce that may be useful to policy makers, researchers and related health care organizations to better understand and address the nation's health care needs.

scholarly journals The Current State of Medical School Education in Bioethics, Health Law, and Health Economics

2008 ◽  
Vol 36 (1) ◽  
pp. 89-94 ◽  
Author(s):  
Govind C. Persad ◽  
Linden Elder ◽  
Laura Sedig ◽  
Leonardo Flores ◽  
Ezekiel J. Emanuel
Keyword(s):  
United States ◽  
Medical Education ◽  
Health Economics ◽  
End Of Life ◽  
Medical Schools ◽  
The United States ◽  
Health Law ◽  
Research Administration ◽  
Liaison Committee ◽  
End Of Life Decision

The standards for medical education in the United States now go above and beyond traditional basic science and clinical subjects. Bioethics, health law, and health economics are recognized as important parts of translating physicians’ technical competence in medicine into effective research, administration, and medical care for patients. The Liaison Committee on Medical Education (LCME), which establishes certification requirements for medical schools, requires all medical schools to include bioethics in their curricula. Furthermore, issues such as the growth of genetic testing, end-of-life decision making for a burgeoning elderly population, confidentiality in the era of electronic medical records, and allocation of scarce medical resources make bioethics training clearly necessary for physicians. Although 16 percent of the United States GDP is devoted to health care, the LCME does not currently mandate training in health law or health economics. Furthermore, as the Schiavo case and HIPAA remind us, legal directives influence medical practice in areas such as billing, confidentiality, and end-of-life care.

scholarly journals Telemedicine Training in Undergraduate Medical Education: Mixed-Methods Review (Preprint)

2018 ◽  
Author(s):  
Shayan Waseh ◽  
Adam P Dicker
Keyword(s):  
United States ◽  
Health Care ◽  
Medical Education ◽  
Mixed Methods ◽  
Undergraduate Medical Education ◽  
Clinical Education ◽  
Medical Schools ◽  
The United States ◽  
Health Care Environment ◽  
Liaison Committee

BACKGROUND Telemedicine has grown exponentially in the United States over the past few decades, and contemporary trends in the health care environment are serving to fuel this growth into the future. Therefore, medical schools are learning to incorporate telemedicine competencies into the undergraduate medical education of future physicians so that they can more effectively leverage telemedicine technologies for improving the quality of care, increasing patient access, and reducing health care expense. This review articulates the efforts of allopathic-degree-granting medical schools in the United States to characterize and systematize the learnings that have been generated thus far in the domain of telemedicine training in undergraduate medical education. OBJECTIVE The aim of this review was to collect and outline the current experiences and learnings that have been generated as medical schools have sought to implement telemedicine capacity-building into undergraduate medical education. METHODS We performed a mixed-methods review, starting with a literature review via Scopus, tracking with Excel, and an email outreach effort utilizing telemedicine curriculum data gathered by the Liaison Committee on Medical Education. This outreach included 70 institutions and yielded 7 interviews, 4 peer-reviewed research papers, 6 online documents, and 3 completed survey responses. RESULTS There is an emerging, rich international body of learning being generated in the field of telemedicine training in undergraduate medical education. The integration of telemedicine-based lessons, ethics case-studies, clinical rotations, and even teleassessments are being found to offer great value for medical schools and their students. Most medical students find such training to be a valuable component of their preclinical and clinical education for a variety of reasons, which include fostering greater familiarity with telemedicine and increased comfort with applying telemedical approaches in their future careers. CONCLUSIONS These competencies are increasingly important in tackling the challenges facing health care in the 21st century, and further implementation of telemedicine curricula into undergraduate medical education is highly merited.

Pass/Fail Scoring of USMLE Step 1 and the Need for Residency Selection Reform

2020 ◽  
pp. 019459982095116
Author(s):  
Parsa P. Salehi ◽  
Babak Azizzadeh ◽  
Yan Ho Lee
Keyword(s):  
Neck Surgery ◽  
The United States ◽  
Unintended Consequences ◽  
Application Process ◽  
National Board ◽  
Student Stress ◽  
Medical Graduates ◽  
Residency Selection ◽  
State Medical Boards ◽  
Medical Examiners

The Federation of State Medical Boards and the National Board of Medical Examiners recently announced a change in the United States Medical Licensing Examination Step 1 scoring convention to take effect, at the earliest, on January 1, 2022. There are many reasons for this change, including decreasing medical student stress and incentivizing students to learn freely without solely focusing on Step 1 performance. The question remains how this will affect the future of the otolaryngology–head and neck surgery match. By eradicating Step 1 grades, other factors, such as research, may garner increased importance in the application process. Such a shift may discriminate against students from less well-known medical schools, international medical graduates, and students from low socioeconomic backgrounds, who have fewer academic resources and access to research. Residency programs should try to anticipate such unintended consequences of the change and work on solutions heading into 2022.

scholarly journals Prospects for a National Clearinghouse on International Medical Schools

2008 ◽  
Vol 94 (3) ◽  
pp. 7-11
Author(s):  
David Alan Johnson
Keyword(s):  
United States ◽  
Medical Education ◽  
Medical Schools ◽  
The United States ◽  
International Medical ◽  
Committee Report ◽  
Close Monitoring ◽  
Special Committee ◽  
The Caribbean ◽  
State Medical Boards

ABSTRACT In 2006, a special committee appointed by the Federation of State Medical Boards (FSMB) issued its report on the “Evaluation of Undergraduate Medical Education” in the United States and abroad. Satisfied with accreditation systems already providing reasonable and adequate assurance for the quality of medical education in this country, the committee turned its focus toward international medical schools. Because international medical graduates (IMGs) comprise 25 percent of the physician workforce, U.S. medical licensing boards continue to seek meaningful information on the medical schools of their licensees. The report's recommendations included a call for close monitoring of efforts to provide international accreditation systems. One of the current initiatives being closely watched is that of the Caribbean Authority for Accreditation in Medicine and Other Health Professions (CAAM). Under the auspices of the Caribbean Community, CAAM has established an accreditation system for medical schools in the region, carried out site visits and rendered decisions for a number of Caribbean schools. A complementary initiative currently underway by FSMB and ECFMG staff involves the development of a primer on IMGs and international medical education. This web-based resource is scheduled for completion in late fall 2008. The major recommendation of the special committee report called for the FSMB to work with state medical boards and the ECFMG to establish an information and data clearinghouse on international medical schools. A clearinghouse workgroup has already begun meeting and considering various quality indicators suggested by the special committee report such as admission requirements, policies relative to advanced standing and aggregate performance data on USMLE. The challenges facing the clearinghouse are significant. One approach being considered is to focus data collection efforts primarily on the eight to 10 schools currently supplying the largest number of IMGs seeking medical licensure in the United States.

scholarly journals The United States Medical Licensing Examination: Part One

2005 ◽  
Vol 91 (1) ◽  
pp. 21-25
Author(s):  
David Johnson
Keyword(s):  
United States ◽  
The United States ◽  
Test Accommodations ◽  
Patient Centered ◽  
National Board ◽  
Content Quality ◽  
Medical Licensing ◽  
Licensing Examination ◽  
State Medical Boards ◽  
And Function

ABSTRACT The United States Medical Licensing Examination (USMLE), co-sponsored and co-owned by the Federation of State Medical Boards (FSMB) and the National Board of Medical Examiners (NBME), was implemented in 1992–94 as the successor of the NBME certifying examinations (Parts I, II and III) and the Federation Licensing Examination (FLEX). It is a three-step examination for medical licensure in the United States. The USMLE assesses a physician’s ability to apply knowledge, concepts and principles, and to demonstrate fundamental patient-centered skills important in health and disease and constitute the basis of safe and effective patient care. Results of the USMLE are reported to medical licensing authorities in the United States for their use in granting the initial license to practice medicine. This article is the first in a series focusing on the USMLE program. The following article provides a broad overview of the USMLE program along with a brief description of the USMLE content, characteristics of test administration, and information on the scoring of the exam. Subsequent articles will focus on development of examination content, quality assurance mechanisms, standard setting and such administrative issues as test accommodations and irregular behavior. The intent of this series is to provide the reader with short, topical articles that collectively provide a better understanding of the nature, role and function of the USMLE in assisting medical licensing authorities in the United States.

scholarly journals A Census of Actively Licensed Physicians in the United States, 2016

2017 ◽  
Vol 103 (2) ◽  
pp. 7-21 ◽  
Author(s):  
Aaron Young ◽  
Humayun J. Chaudhry ◽  
Xiaomei Pei ◽  
Katie Arnhart ◽  
Michael Dugan ◽  
...  
Keyword(s):  
United States ◽  
Health Care ◽  
Workforce Planning ◽  
The United States ◽  
Medical Specialties ◽  
Medical Graduates ◽  
Regulatory Policies ◽  
Population Ratio ◽  
State Medical Boards ◽  
Osteopathic Physicians

An accurate understanding of the demographic and state medical licensure characteristics of physicians in the United States is critical for health care workforce planning. Overall changes in the nation's population demographics, state and federal medical regulatory policies and dynamics surrounding the ongoing health care reform debate further highlight the need to have an up-to-date census of actively licensed physicians across all medical specialties. This article uses data received by the Federation of State Medical Boards (FSMB) from the nation's state medical and osteopathic licensing boards to report and summarize key features of actively licensed physicians in the United States and the District of Columbia. Our biennial census, current through the end of 2016, identifies a total of 953,695 actively licensed allopathic and osteopathic physicians serving a national population of 323 million people. This represents a net physician-increase of 12% from the 2010 census. From 2010 to 2016, the actively licensed U.S. physician-to-population ratio increased from 277 physicians per 100,000-population to 295 physicians per 100,000-population. Females now make up one-third of all licensed physicians, with osteopathic physicians and Caribbean medical graduates continuing to demonstrate substantial increases in both their absolute numbers and as a percentage of all actively licensed physicians from the 2010 to 2016 time period.

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