In order to preserve the health of both examiners and examinees, the USMLE Step 2 CS exam was suspended in 2020, and now all attempts to revitalize and reformat the exam have been officially suspended. The FSMB and NBME decided that medical education and technology have evolved and excelled to allow medical schools themselves to evaluate the clinical skills of their student doctors.
This assessment should be sufficient for both MD and DO students, and yet, the NBOME has not suspended their activity to revitalize COMLEX Level 2-PE. The preservation of this antiquated exam will serve to perpetuate the hoops DO students have to jump through to exhibit equality to their MD counterparts. AAEM/RSA does not support the continued requirement of Level 2-PE for DO students. We encourage NBOME to support the efficacy of the medical education provided at their schools to, similarly, be sufficient to prove DO graduate’s clinical skills.
Additionally, AAEM/RSA reaffirms our previous position that the OET exam for international medical students should similarly be discontinued. AAEM/RSA does not support the mistreatment of IMG candidates who have already proved their English-proficiency through a US undergraduate degree, a medical school curriculum taught in English, or through performance of clinical rotations in US hospitals. We believe that changes to the OET requirement should be addressed given the discontinuation of Step 2CS.
AAEM/RSA supports the equality and safety of all medical students, and we believe that accredited medical schools should be given the final authority in evaluating the clinical skills of their future physician graduates.
Download PDF VersionApproved: 2/1/2021