The Introduction of Clinical Skills Assessment into the United States Medical Licensing Examination (USMLE): A Description of USMLE Step 2 Clinical Skills (CS)

Abstract

In June 2004, Step 2 Clinical Skills (CS) was introduced into the United States Medical Licensing Examination (USMLE). The purpose of USMLE Step 2 CS is to ensure successful candidates for licensure in the United States possess the clinical skills that are essential for safe and effective patient care. Ensuring high quality in such a large-scale, performance-based test requires meticulous attention to detail at multiple levels in preparing for implementation. These levels include: case and test development, standardized patient training, quality assurance, scoring and standard setting. The authors describe the efforts undertaken to ensure the examination provides for a fair assessment of individual examinee performance with regard to those fundamental patient-centered skills.