Materials employed by medical students preparing for subject examinations: supporting collection development

Abstract

Medical students in the United States are tested extensively throughout their four years of medical school, including both regular course examinations and standardized tests. The first standardized examination encountered by US medical students is the United States Medical Licensing Examination (USMLE) step one, produced by the National Board of Medical Educators (NBME), taken upon completion of the second year of training. Passing this examination is a significant milestone in the medical school curriculum, as most schools require students to pass before promotion to the third year [1]. The NBME produces not only the USMLE step exams but also produces standardized “subject examinations” [2]. In the United States, the American Association of Medical Colleges' (AAMC) Curriculum Management Information Tool (CurrMIT) database reports that 85% of US medical schools require their students to take subject examinations and pass them as a requirement to complete core clerkships [1]. At the University of Illinois College of Medicine located in Urbana-Champaign, students are required to pass subject examinations at the end of each core clerkship, occurring during the third and fourth years of medical school: family medicine, internal medicine, obstetrics and gynecology, surgery, psychiatry, and pediatrics. The subject examinations also serve in part to prepare students for the capstone examination to graduation and the granting of the medical doctor (MD) degree, the USMLE step two. Standardized examinations do not end with the granting of the MD. Resident physicians undergo a third and final board examination, the USMLE step three, after completion of the first year of residency training. Passing this examination in many states will earn resident physicians their permanent medical license [1]. Even after residency, passing standardized examinations continues to be a responsibility of practicing physicians. Many US hospitals only issue privileges to “board certified” (The American Board of Medical Specialties) physicians. Internists, for example, must pass the American Board of Internal Medicine on a recurring basis to maintain board certification status. Thus, test preparation retains its importance throughout a physician's career.