The United States Medical Licensing Examination Step 1 Is Changing-US Medical Curricula Should Too.

Benjamin Liu

doi:10.2196/20182

Abstract

In recent years, US medical students have been increasingly absent from medical school classrooms. They do so to maximize their competitiveness for a good residency program, by achieving high scores on the United States Medical Licensing Examination (USMLE) Step 1. As a US medical student, I know that most of these class-skipping students are utilizing external learning resources, which are perceived to be more efficient than traditional lectures. Now that the USMLE Step 1 is adopting a pass/fail grading system, it may be tempting to expect students to return to traditional basic science lectures. Unfortunately, my experiences tell me this will not happen. Instead, US medical schools must adapt their curricula. These new curricula should focus on clinical decision making, team-based learning, and new medical decision technologies, while leveraging the validated ability of these external resources to teach the basic sciences. In doing so, faculty will not only increase student engagement but also modernize the curricula to meet new standards on effective medical learning.

Highlights

In recent years, US medical students have been increasingly absent from medical school classrooms
While I agree with most of the reasons for this change, the glaring question remains: what will the medical school curriculum look like that Step 1 has become pass/fail? As a second-year medical student attending a typical mid-west US medical school, I believe I can offer a first-hand perspective on student engagement with the traditional, lecture-based medical curriculum, and the major changes that should occur as students shift their focus away from scoring a 230+ on Step 1
US medical schools have had a heavy emphasis on memorization, a matter exemplified by the 2 years of traditional lectures dedicated for the basic science–heavy Step 1

Summary

Introduction

US medical students have been increasingly absent from medical school classrooms. KEYWORDS USMLE; US medical students; USMLE pass/fail; new curricula; medical education; medical learning; medical school While I agree with most of the reasons for this change, the glaring question remains: what will the medical school curriculum look like that Step 1 has become pass/fail?

Results

Conclusion