Evaluation of a course to prepare international students for the United States Medical Licensing Examination step 2 clinical skills exam
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 stud...
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Format: | Article |
Language: | English |
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Korea Health Personnel Licensing Examination Institute
2017-10-01
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Series: | Journal of Educational Evaluation for Health Professions |
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Online Access: | http://www.jeehp.org/upload/jeehp-14-25.pdf |
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author | Rachel B. Levine Andrew P. Levy Robert Lubin Sarah Halevi Rebeca Rios Danelle Cayea |
author_facet | Rachel B. Levine Andrew P. Levy Robert Lubin Sarah Halevi Rebeca Rios Danelle Cayea |
author_sort | Rachel B. Levine |
collection | DOAJ |
description | 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. |
first_indexed | 2024-03-12T10:49:40Z |
format | Article |
id | doaj.art-90c2a228e28f4c79b20ff979f2be6476 |
institution | Directory Open Access Journal |
issn | 1975-5937 |
language | English |
last_indexed | 2024-03-12T10:49:40Z |
publishDate | 2017-10-01 |
publisher | Korea Health Personnel Licensing Examination Institute |
record_format | Article |
series | Journal of Educational Evaluation for Health Professions |
spelling | doaj.art-90c2a228e28f4c79b20ff979f2be64762023-09-02T07:07:13ZengKorea Health Personnel Licensing Examination InstituteJournal of Educational Evaluation for Health Professions1975-59372017-10-011410.3352/jeehp.2017.14.25258Evaluation of a course to prepare international students for the United States Medical Licensing Examination step 2 clinical skills examRachel B. Levine0Andrew P. Levy1Robert Lubin2Sarah Halevi3Rebeca Rios4Danelle Cayea5Department of Medicine, Johns Hopkins University School of Medicine, Baltimore, MD, USATechnion Faculty of Medicine, Technion Israel Institute of Technology, Haifa, IsraelTechnion Faculty of Medicine, Technion Israel Institute of Technology, Haifa, IsraelTechnion Faculty of Medicine, Technion Israel Institute of Technology, Haifa, IsraelDepartment of Medicine, Johns Hopkins University School of Medicine, Baltimore, MD, USADepartment of Medicine, Johns Hopkins University School of Medicine, Baltimore, MD, USAPurpose 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.http://www.jeehp.org/upload/jeehp-14-25.pdfcurriculumeducational measurementforeign medical graduatesclinical competence |
spellingShingle | Rachel B. Levine Andrew P. Levy Robert Lubin Sarah Halevi Rebeca Rios Danelle Cayea Evaluation of a course to prepare international students for the United States Medical Licensing Examination step 2 clinical skills exam Journal of Educational Evaluation for Health Professions curriculum educational measurement foreign medical graduates clinical competence |
title | Evaluation of a course to prepare international students for the United States Medical Licensing Examination step 2 clinical skills exam |
title_full | Evaluation of a course to prepare international students for the United States Medical Licensing Examination step 2 clinical skills exam |
title_fullStr | Evaluation of a course to prepare international students for the United States Medical Licensing Examination step 2 clinical skills exam |
title_full_unstemmed | Evaluation of a course to prepare international students for the United States Medical Licensing Examination step 2 clinical skills exam |
title_short | Evaluation of a course to prepare international students for the United States Medical Licensing Examination step 2 clinical skills exam |
title_sort | evaluation of a course to prepare international students for the united states medical licensing examination step 2 clinical skills exam |
topic | curriculum educational measurement foreign medical graduates clinical competence |
url | http://www.jeehp.org/upload/jeehp-14-25.pdf |
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