News

How can innovative tools and item types be used to improve the authenticity of a medical licensure exam? How have electronic health records been used in the medical education of students during clerkships? NBME staff recently explored these and other questions through research papers and presentations.

The International Association of Medical Regulatory Authorities (IAMRA) is hosting an invitation-only symposium in Chicago September 9-10, 2019. The event will explore balancing assurance and improvement of continued competency. NBME is proud to co-sponsor the forum to help bring together leading experts in medical professional regulation from around the world to discuss key issues facing today’s medical regulators.

Faculty can now use the Health Systems Science (HSS) Examination, a high-quality, standardized assessment developed in collaboration with the American Medical Association, as a new tool to support the implementation of HSS curricula and educational initiatives. Together with clinical and basic science instruction, HSS prepares medical students for effective clinical practice during residency and throughout their careers.

Will you be attending the 2019 AMEE Annual Meeting in Vienna, Austria? Join us at our booth (#N29) to see how you and your colleagues can benefit from exciting enhancements to our products and services including International Foundations of Medicine (IFOM) exams, subject exams, Customized Assessment Services (CAS), and self-assessments, as well as our consultation and faculty development workshops.

The comprehensive subject examinations, including the Comprehensive Basic Science Examination (CBSE) and Comprehensive Clinical Science Examination (CCSE), began using new score scales and score feedback reports that align with the redesigned format for the United States Medical Licensing Examination® (USMLE®) score report on August 5.

A new subject examination for Ambulatory Care began administration on August 1 and is now available for medical school faculty. The Ambulatory Care subject examination replaces the former Adult Ambulatory Medicine subject examination.

Over a dozen thought-leaders in medical education gathered at the NBME’s offices this summer to explore how best to support a global culture of assessment. The Global Medical Education Assessment Horizons group aims to share the state of assessment and explore new assessments.

Score reports meet the needs of examinees and faculty when the correct inferences can be drawn. NBME receives feedback about scoring and uses that feedback as input to its continuous improvement efforts. Award winning NBME psychometrician Carol Morrison recently published a paper with additional NBME staff members Linette Ross, Gregory Baker, and Marie Maranki in Medical Science Educator about this very topic.

Preliminary recommendations on USMLE score reporting from the convening organizations of the Invitational Conference on USMLE Scoring (InCUS) are now available online. From now until July 26, 2019 individuals and organizations interested in this United States Medical Licensing Examination® (USMLE®) topic can review the recommendations, hear podcasts about InCUS, sign up for a webinar, and submit comments about the recommendations.

In April 2019, the Federation of State Medical Boards (FSMB) and the National Board of Medical Examiners® (NBME®) signed an agreement with representatives from the Health Professions Council of South Africa (HPCSA) that was nearly a year in the making. Specifically, the HPCSA asked FSMB and NBME to help them deliver a high-quality written exam that can be used as a standardized assessment for those international graduates who wish to practice medicine in South Africa.

Over 250 medical educators attended the 2nd annual Invitational Conference for Educators on May 14-16 in Indianapolis, Indiana, hosted by the National Board of Medical Examiners® (NBME®).

Medical school faculty are critical to the education of future physicians. In addition to teaching, faculty must assess their students’ knowledge to know if students are meeting objectives set for courses and clerkships and if changes are needed to the educational program.