This year, NBME celebrates 110 years of creating high-quality assessments for medical learners. As a not-for-profit organization, NBME aims to advance assessment of health care professionals to achieve optimal care for all, supporting development of a highly effective, diverse and compassionate health care workforce.
NBME was founded in 1915 with the primary goals of elevating the standard of qualification for the practice of medicine and surgery, and to provide a means for recognition of qualified persons to practice in any state, territory or dependency of the United States without further examination by their licensing boards. Today, NBME strives to ensure a higher standard of qualification for medical practice and aims to support the spectrum of health care professionals across the continuum of their education and practice.
NBME develops and manages the United States Medical Licensing Examination® (USMLE®) with the Federation of State Medical Boards. First implemented in 1992 and accepted by all state medical boards, the USMLE is part of a physician’s pathway to licensure, ensuring that licensed physicians are held to a rigorous and reliable standard and have demonstrated they understand and can apply the medical knowledge and clinical reasoning needed to provide safe and effective patient care.
NBME offers a comprehensive portfolio of assessment products for every stage of the medical school journey and provides assessment services to various health profession organizations. NBME is leveraging its capabilities in test design, psychometrics and measurement to develop tools that provide evidence of progress along with robust feedback to guide continued learning.
Looking ahead, NBME will increase its focus on assessments and tools that support growth and provide valuable insights into a student’s skill development, including formative assessment, or assessment for learning. This approach creates a continuous improvement cycle that allows learners to identify knowledge gaps, track their progress and refine their clinical skills independently throughout their educational journey. We’re also exploring how artificial intelligence and natural language processing can enable us to deliver actionable feedback that enhances skill development and learning.
