A Student Perspective on Taking the USMLE Step 1 During the COVID-19 Pandemic

Abstract

To the Editor: Imagine that a medical student quickly checks his email while studying for his fast-approaching United States Medical Licensing Examination (USMLE) Step 1. He sees the dreaded words informing of his exam cancellation due to the pandemic with no information on rescheduling. To avoid having to cancel his upcoming clinical rotation, he pays for cancelation fees, flights, and accommodations to take his exam 600 miles away. This story exemplifies the experiences of U.S. medical trainees since the COVID-19 pandemic began, with over 17,000 exam cancellations before June 2020 alone. 1 Funding/Support: None reported.

No knowledge gap in human physiology after remote teaching for second year medical students throughout the Covid-19 pandemic

“…At the same time, the authors discussed the score-comparability between the different forms of assessment. Such issues in comparability might be critical for the interpretation of results from standardized high-stakes exams which could not be administered in the traditional manner and were changed to other formats, postponed, or even cancelled [ 10 , 22 ]. Combined, there is reason to assume that knowledge gaps in medical students might be an issue thus far not addressed adequately.…”