USMLE
USMLE
USMLE stands for United States Medical Licensing Examination.
The USMLE exam was first introduced in 1992 and is recognized by all state medical boards. It is part of a physician's pathway to licensure.
The USMLE exam consists of three exams, called “stages,” - taken at different stages of an allopathic physician's education and training. Those who pass each stage of the USMLE exam demonstrate that they understand and can apply medical knowledge, clinical concepts, and basic patient care skills to become licensed to practice medicine in the United States.
The USMLE® program, or United States Medical Licensing Examination®, is owned by two entities: the Federation of State Medical Boards (FSMB) and the National Board of Medical Examiners® (NBME®).
The FSMB is a non-profit organization representing 70 state medical and osteopathic medical boards in the United States and its territories. The individual medical boards are responsible for licensing physicians, investigating patient complaints, and punishing offending physicians. The FSMB acts on behalf of the members of its state chambers by providing a nationwide assessment program, providing tools to facilitate documentation and distribution of qualifications, sponsoring a nationwide database for tracking disciplinary actions, and representing individual chambers on issues relevant to licensing and practice.
NBME offers a wide range of high-quality testing and educational services to students, professionals, educators, regulators, and institutions, addressing the changing needs of medical and healthcare education. To serve these communities, we work with a diverse and comprehensive group of practicing health professionals, medical educators, state medical board members, test developers, academic researchers, scoring experts, and members of the public.
The organization is led by a 12-member board of directors that includes health professionals and other leaders from national and international institutions.