USMLE for International Medical Graduates

STEP 1 & 2 USMLE

• ECFMG serves as the registration entity for international medical students/graduates taking Step 1 and Step 2 (Clinical Skill and Clinical Knowledge)
• ECFMG processes your exam application and payment, determines your eligibility, and notifies you the outcome of your application.
• For eligible Step 1/ Step 2 applicants, ECFMG forwards registration information to NBME, and NBME issues the exam scheduling permits.
• Scheduling and test centers for USMLE Step 1 is provided by Prometric.
• Prometric serves as the test delivery entity for all examinees taking Step 1/Step 2 CK. Step 1 and Step 2 CK are delivered at Prometric test centers worldwide.
• WE CAN TAKE THE STEP 1 EXAM IN THE PHILIPPINES (Inside Salcedo Village, Makati City):  
• For eligible Step 2 (Clinical Skills) applicants, ECFMG also issues exam scheduling permits. The Clinical Skills Evaluation Collaboration (CSEC) is responsible for the delivery of Step 2 (Clinical Skills) exam. This exam is delivered to all examinees at regional CSEC centers only in the United States
• ECFMG notifies international medical students/graduates when their Step 1, Step 2 CK, and Step 2 CS score reports are available and provides them with secure, web-based access to the score reports.

STEP 3 USMLE

• The FSMB serves as the registration entity for all Step 3 applicants. 
• Scheduling and test centers for Step 3 are provided by Prometric, which serves as the test delivery entity for all Step 3 examinees. USMLE Step 3 is delivered at Prometric test centers in the United States.

Eligibility for Step 1 & 2 exam:

• A medical student officially enrolled in, or a graduate of, a medical school outside the United States and Canada who meets the eligiblity criteria of the ECFMG.

Eligibility for Step 3 exam:

• International medical graduates must have passed Step 1 and Step 2 and must be certified by ECFMG, among other requirements.
• Obtain the MD degree (or its equivalent) or the DO degree
• Obtain certification by the ECFMG or successfully complete a “Fifth Pathway” program  if you are a graduate of a medical school outside the United States and Canada, and
• The USMLE program recommends that for Step 3 eligibility, licensing authorities require the completion, or near completion, of at least one postgraduate training year in a program of graduate medical education accredited by the Accreditation Council for Graduate Medical Education (ACGME) or the AOA

Time Limit and number of attempts for completing all 3 steps of USMLE (for international medical graduates)

• The USMLE program recommends, although not all jurisdictions impose, a seven-year limit for completion of the three-Step USMLE program. 
• For the computer-based examinations (Step 1, Step 2 CK, Step 3), you may take the failed or incomplete examination no more than 4 times within a 12-month period.
• For Step 2 CS, you may take the failed or incomplete evaluation no more than 3 times within a 12-month period
• If you pass the said exam, you cannot retake it anymore to make your score higher except if you were not able to compel with the said time limit.

USMLE