issuance of visas and travel to and from the United States are subject to change.
You should review current
requirements before applying for a visa. For additional information, visit the
DHS website
and the
U.S. Department of
State website
.
Step 2 CS is administered only in the United States. Upon request, ECFMG provides Step 2 CS applicants with a
letter that may assist during the process of applying for a visa. The letter indicates that the applicant is registered for
Step 2 CS, one of the exams required for ECFMG Certification. The letter also indicates that the applicant is required
to travel to the United States to take the exam and provides the date by which the applicant must complete the exam.
You can request this letter when you apply for Step 2 CS. After completion of the registration process, ECFMG will
issue the letter, and it will be available to you through
IWA
. If you are unable to obtain the appropriate
visa to enter the
United States to take Step 2 CS, you may request a full refund of the exam fee. See
Refunds
in Your ECFMG
Financial Account.
If you are traveling from a distant location, you should consider arriving a day or two before the examination in order to
be rested.
Last updated: September 7, 2017
Copyright © 2017 by the Educational Commission for Foreign Medical Graduates. All rights reserved.
Page 36
The United States Medical Licensing Examination (USMLE)
About USMLE
|
Registration and Test Delivery Entities
|
Applying for Examination
|
Scheduling the Examination
|
Preparing for Examination
|
Taking the Examination
| USMLE Program and Irregular Behavior |
Examination Results
|
Reexamination and Reapplication
USMLE Program and Irregular Behavior
The USMLE program defines irregular behavior as including, "any action by applicants, examinees, potential
applicants, or others that could compromise the validity, integrity, or security of the USMLE examination process." Test
center staff monitor, in person and via video/audio recording, testing sessions for USMLE Steps and are required to
report any violations of USMLE or test center rules. You must follow instructions from test center staff throughout the
examinations; failure to do so may result in a determination of irregular behavior and permanent annotation of your
USMLE transcript. See Testing Regulations and Rules of Conduct and Irregular Behavior in the
USMLE Bulletin of
Information
. See ECFMG’s
Policies and Procedures Regarding Irregular Behavior
, which also may apply.
Important Notes: Providing information relating to examination content that may give or attempt to give
unfair advantage to anyone who may be taking the examination, which includes postings regarding
examination content and/or answers on the Internet, is a violation of the USMLE Rules of Conduct.
Evidence of violation of any test administration rule, including the USMLE Rules of Conduct, will result in
actions being taken under USMLE Policies and Procedures Regarding Irregular Behavior. If you are found
to have engaged in irregular behavior, your score report and transcripts will include this finding, you may be
barred from taking the USMLE in the future, and your score may be canceled.
Anomalous performance and/or unusual testing history may impact your access to the USMLE. If your
performance raises concerns about your readiness to test or your motivation to pass, the USMLE program
reserves the right to restrict your future access to its examinations and/or to impose conditions upon future
access. Do not test if you are not able or not ready on your scheduled test date. Taking a Step examination
to familiarize yourself with the examination format, or for any reason other than to pass, is prohibited and
may limit your future access to the USMLE.
The above-described conduct may also be considered irregular behavior under ECFMG’s
Policies and Procedures
Regarding Irregular Behavior
.
Last updated: September 7, 2017
Copyright © 2017 by the Educational Commission for Foreign Medical Graduates. All rights reserved.
Page 37
The United States Medical Licensing Examination (USMLE)
About USMLE
|
Registration and Test Delivery Entities
|
Applying for Examination
|
Scheduling the Examination
|
Preparing for Examination
|
Taking the Examination
|
USMLE Program and Irregular Behavior
| Examination Results |
Reexamination and Reapplication
Examination Results
For ECFMG Certification, you must obtain at least the USMLE-recommended pass outcome for each required Step or
Step Component. See
Examination Requirements
in Examinations for ECFMG Certification.
Score Reporting
Results for Step 1 and 2 CK are typically available three to four weeks after your test date. However, release of results
may take longer for various reasons. When selecting your test date and inquiring about results, you should allow at
least eight weeks to receive notification that your score report is available. Results for Step 2 CS are available
according to the Step 2 CS Schedule for Reporting Results, available on the
USMLE
and
ECFMG
websites. For more
specific information about potential scoring delays, visit the Announcements section of the
USMLE website
.
ECFMG reserves the right to reverify with the medical school the eligibility of medical school students and graduates
who are registered for examination. If ECFMG requests reverification of your student/graduate status with your
medical school, your score report will be issued only after reverification of your status has been received by ECFMG.
Score reports are issued in electronic format only and can be accessed using ECFMG's
OASIS
;
you will not receive
a paper score report by postal mail. Once your score report has been issued, ECFMG will send a notification to the
e-mail address in your ECFMG record.
Score reports are available for approximately 120 days from the date of e-mail notification. Once the score report is
removed from the website, your results will be provided to you only in the form of an official USMLE transcript. To
obtain a transcript, you will be required to submit a request and pay a fee. Therefore, it is strongly recommended that
you print and/or save your score report while it is available.
Important Note: ECFMG may provide your medical school with data on your performance on
administrations of USMLE Step 1, USMLE Step 2 CK, and USMLE Step 2 CS. Data provided include
whether you passed or failed the exam administration, and, for Step 1 and Step 2 CK, your numerical
score. You have the option to withhold your exam results from your medical school. See ECFMG's
Provision of Performance Data to Medical Schools in
IWA
for more information.
See Score Reporting in the
USMLE Bulletin of Information
for additional information. For up-to-date information on
minimum passing scores, examination performance data, and general scoring methodology, please visit the
USMLE
website
.
Score Validity
The USMLE program reserves the right to cancel scores that are at or above the passing level if the USMLE program
has a good faith basis for questioning whether they represent a valid measure of knowledge or competence as
sampled by the examination. If there are questions related to the validity of your score, your score report may be
delayed, or any further reporting or verification of such scores may be withheld, pending completion of further review
and/or investigation. See Score Validity in the
USMLE Bulletin of Information
.
USMLE Transcripts
To request an official USMLE transcript, you must contact the appropriate registration entity. You must contact the
Federation of State Medical Boards if you are registered for or have taken Step 3 and/or you want to send your
transcript to a U.S. medical licensing authority. In all other cases, submit your transcript request to ECFMG by sending
a completed
Request for Official USMLE
®
Transcript (Form 172)
and the appropriate fee to ECFMG. Form 172 and
additional information are available in the Resources section of the ECFMG website and from ECFMG, upon request.
You can use
OASIS
to check whether your USMLE transcript has been sent.
If you apply to residency programs through the
Electronic Residency Application Service (ERAS)
, you may request
electronic transmittal of your USMLE transcript to these programs. For additional information, refer to the
ERAS
Page 38