- published: 12 Sep 2015
- views: 56358
The USMLE Step 1 (more commonly just Step 1 or colloquially, The Boards) is the first part of the United States Medical Licensing Examination. It assesses whether medical school students or graduates can apply important concepts of the sciences fundamental to the practice of medicine. US medical students typically take Step 1 at the end of the second year of medical school. Graduates of international medical schools must also take Step 1 if they want to practice in the US. Graduates from international medical schools must apply through ECFMG and the registration fee is $780. From Fall 2011, the NBME registration fee for the test is $535, with additional charges for applicants who choose a testing region outside the United States or Canada.
The exam used to be an eight-hour computer-based test taken in a single-day, composed of seven 48-question sections with a total of 336 multiple-choice questions. Beginning May 15, 2010, the exam reduced the number of questions from 48 to 46 per section, for a total of 322 questions. One hour is the time provided for each section, allotting an average of a minute and fifteen seconds to answer each question. Between test sections, the test taker is allotted a cumulative 45 minutes (during the test day) for personal breaks. (There is a 15 minute tutorial at the beginning of the exam, which the test-taker can choose to skip and have that time added to break time.) If the taker finishes any section before the allotted one hour time limit, the unused time is added to the break time total. The test is administered at any of several Prometric computer testing sites.
In my head I'm a 1000 miles away,
but when I open up my eyes again,
I see I'm still stuck here with this.
There's too much of nothing here for me,
I'm sure I need to get away,
you can come with me if you fell the same.
We could find a world we've never known,
We could find a world beyond our own,
and take the first step out of here.
Well I know that there's no guarantee,
and there's a time and a place for everything,
still no one knows what tomorrow brings.
When everyone you know has plans,
the time has come to break the chain.
Now's the time to act, so if you've had enough.
Leave this place behind, it will only hold you back.
Now I figured out my destiny and I'm not sure,
I like what I see,the man I once thought I could be,
Is suppressed by my restrictions,
and my responsibilities, someday soon I know I'll be free.
The promises you made yourself,
they can't be reached they fade away.
Now's the time to act, so if you've had enough.