A. Step 1, Step 2 CK, or Step 3:

Scores for Step 1, Step 2 CK and Step 3 are released each Wednesday. Generally these will include scores for examinees who tested three to four weeks before the release date. However, there are many factors that may delay an individual score release. Usually these will be quickly resolved and the score released in the next weekly cycle. Your registration entity will notify you via email when your score becomes available. When released, your scores will be posted to your registration entity's secure website: for Step 1 and Step 2, either NBME or ECFMG; for Step 3, FSMB. If you have not received your score within eight weeks of your test date, please contact us to determine the status of your score report. Please note that new scores are not released during the week of 4th of July or the week after Christmas.

B. Step 2 CS:

Scores for Step 2 CS are released on Wednesdays according to the posted score reporting schedule. Step 2 CS examinees are grouped into testing periods according to the dates on which they test. It is expected that results for the vast majority of examinees who take the exam during the testing period will be reported on the first Wednesday of the Reporting Period. Results for 98%-99% of examinees who take the exam during the testing period are reported by the third Wednesday in a Reporting Period. For a small percentage of examinees (1%-2%), scoring and quality assurance may be not completed in time for these examinees to be reported by the first three reporting dates; these will typically be examinees who took the exam in the latter part of the testing period. Results for these examinees will be reported each week throughout the reporting period, and should be reported no later than the last day of the score reporting period.

Occasionally test changes require widespread delays in score reporting. These delays are necessary to gather data, perform analyses, and complete quality assurance that ensures the minimum passing score is appropriately maintained. Information on score delays is posted in the announcement section of the USMLE website.

In order to assure that both the processing and scoring of USMLE examinations are done in a secure and accurate fashion, it is necessary to follow a number of quality assurance steps. These steps include monitoring reports from test centers about test delivery problems and about possible security violations. These processes are completed for a majority of examinees in three to four weeks.

No. If you pass a Step, you are not allowed to retake it, except to comply with the time limit of a medical licensing authority for the completion of all Steps or a requirement imposed by another authority recognized by the USMLE program. See USMLE Bulletin: Eligibility - Retakes.

To obtain your USMLE transcript or have it sent to a third party, you must contact one of the three USMLE registration entities. Which entity you contact depends on which Steps you have taken and where you want your transcript sent.

• To have a transcript sent to a medical licensing authority at any time, submit your request through the FSMB.
• If you have not registered for or taken Step 3 and you want a transcript sent to a third party other than a medical licensing authority, submit your request through the same entity that registered you for Step 1 and/or Step 2, the ECFMG or the NBME.
• Once you register for or take Step 3, all requests for USMLE transcripts must be submitted through the FSMB.

See USMLE Bulletin: Scoring and Score Reporting - Transcripts.

The USMLE program began the process of eliminating the reporting of results on the 2-digit score scale to parties other than the examinee and any state licensing authority to which the examinee sends results on July 1, 2011. The USMLE program extended this change in reporting to include ALL score recipients (e.g., examinees, state medical boards), eliminating all calculating and reporting of the 2-digit score effective April 1, 2013.

For example, John Doe requested a transcript on March 1, 2013. The transcript reported a 2-digit and 3-digit score for his Step 1 and Step 2 CK outcomes. If John Doe requests another transcript on April 2, 2013, the transcript will report only a 3-digit score for his Step 1 and Step 2 CK outcomes.

This change pertains to the Step 1, Step 2 CK, and Step 3 examinations only; Step 2 CS will continue to be reported as pass or fail with no numeric score.

Background

Beginning with its introduction in the 1990s, the USMLE program has reported two numeric scores for the Step 1, Step 2 CK, and Step 3 examinations, one on a 3-digit scale and one on a 2-digit scale. The 3-digit score scale has always been considered the primary reporting scale; it is developed in a manner that allows reasonable comparisons across time.

The 2-digit scale was intended to meet statutory requirements of some state medical boards, which require a score scale that has 75 as the minimum passing score. The process used to convert 3-digit scores to 2-digit scores was designed in such a way that the 3-digit minimum passing score in effect when the examinee tested was always associated with a 2-digit score of 75. It is important to note that the 2-digit score was not a percentile.

The USMLE program requires its governing committees to reevaluate the minimum passing score for each Step every three to four years. This process has, at times, resulted in changes in the minimum passing score, expressed on the 3-digit scale, and an accompanying change in the score conversion process, to ensure that a 2-digit score of 75 is associated with the new minimum passing requirement.

A by-product of the adjustment of the score conversion system over time was a shift in the relationship between the two score scales. This shift had no impact for USMLE score users who used the 3-digit scoring scale or for those who used the 2-digit scale with a primary interest in whether the examinee had a passing 2-digit score of at least 75.

However, the shifting relationship between the two scores scales created challenges in interpretation for score users who focused on 2-digit scores for purposes of comparing USMLE scores that span several years.

To eliminate the misuse of and confusion surrounding the 2-digit scale, the USMLE Composite Committee, the governing body of the USMLE program, directed staff to discontinue reporting of the 2-digit score.