Today, I reviewed course feedback for a second-year medical school course. In response to a request for areas for improvement, one student wrote this.
The sentiment is extremely common, but rarely have I seen it stated so succinctly.
The sentiment is extremely common, but rarely have I seen it stated so succinctly.
We have a major problem with the overextension of #USMLE Step 1. I’m not the first to point this out.
But to the extent that the product of medical school/licensure is a public good, can we please start asking questions about whether our systems are producing the good we desire?
But to the extent that the product of medical school/licensure is a public good, can we please start asking questions about whether our systems are producing the good we desire?
One obvious solution is to report USMLE Step 1 scores as Pass/Fail.
This is, after all, what the test was designed for - to broadly determine which candidates have sufficient subject mastery to be licensed.
This is, after all, what the test was designed for - to broadly determine which candidates have sufficient subject mastery to be licensed.
So what do the CEOs of the National Board of Medical Examiners and the Federation of State Medical Boards have to say about Pass/Fail for USMLE Step 1?
So we may be wasting our students time, money, and talent by forcing them to memorize esoteric basic science trivia so we can keep inappropriately using a test in a way in which it was never intended. But hey, at least they won’t be wasting their time on Netflix or Instagram!
I’m officially fired up about this. More to come.
I’m just a pediatric nephrologist, so I don’t know - but is it really true that you can’t understand dermatology until you memorize all the skull foramina? Are ortho residents helpless without a knowledge of Krebs cycle intermediates?
No?
Then why do we pick residents this way?
No?
Then why do we pick residents this way?
I’m honestly shocked that this level of condescension passed peer review.
Can you imagine a paper considering a proposal to free CEOs from a marginally useful and time-consuming task being decried with concerns that it may result in executives wasting time on the golf course?
Can you imagine a paper considering a proposal to free CEOs from a marginally useful and time-consuming task being decried with concerns that it may result in executives wasting time on the golf course?
Wow. Response to this has been overwhelming . For everyone asking, “How do we pick residents without USMLE scores?”, I made a separate thread.
