J Educ Eval Health Prof.  2017;14:25. 10.3352/jeehp.2017.14.25.

Evaluation of a course to prepare international students for the United States Medical Licensing Examination step 2 clinical skills exam

• Levine RB
• Levy AP
• Lubin R
• Halevi S
• Rios R
• Cayea D

• KMID: 2406688
• DOI: http://doi.org/10.3352/jeehp.2017.14.25

Abstract

PURPOSE
United States (US) and Canadian citizens attending medical school abroad often desire to return to the US for residency, and therefore must pass US licensing exams. We describe a 2-day United States Medical Licensing Examination (USMLE) step 2 clinical skills (CS) preparation course for students in the Technion American Medical School program (Haifa, Israel) between 2012 and 2016.
METHODS
Students completed pre- and post-course questionnaires. The paired t-test was used to measure students' perceptions of knowledge, preparation, confidence, and competence in CS pre- and post-course. To test for differences by gender or country of birth, analysis of variance was used. We compared USMLE step 2 CS pass rates between the 5 years prior to the course and the 5 years during which the course was offered.
RESULTS
Ninety students took the course between 2012 and 2016. Course evaluations began in 2013. Seventy-three students agreed to participate in the evaluation, and 64 completed the pre- and post-course surveys. Of the 64 students, 58% were US-born and 53% were male. Students reported statistically significant improvements in confidence and competence in all areas. No differences were found by gender or country of origin. The average pass rate for the 5 years prior to the course was 82%, and the average pass rate for the 5 years of the course was 89%.
CONCLUSION
A CS course delivered at an international medical school may help to close the gap between the pass rates of US and international medical graduates on a high-stakes licensing exam. More experience is needed to determine if this model is replicable.

Keyword

Curriculum; Educational measurement; Foreign medical graduates; Clinical competence

MeSH Terms

Clinical Competence*
Curriculum
Educational Measurement
Foreign Medical Graduates
Humans
Internship and Residency
Licensure*
Male
Mental Competency
Parturition
Schools, Medical
United States*

Figure

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  Fig. 1. USMLE step 2 CS exam pass rates for US, IMG, and TEAMS students, 2007–2016. USMLE, United States Medical Licensing Exam; CS, clinical skills; US, United States; IMG, international medical graduate; TEAMS, Technion American Medical School. a)USMLE course begins.

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  Fig. 2. Learner ratings of the usefulness of educational methods used in the course. Mean scores on a 5-point Likert scale (0, poor; 1, below average; 2, average; 3, above average; 4, outstanding).

Reference

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