To begin the process, you must submit an application for the United States Medical Licensing Examination to the Educational Commission for Foreign Medical Graduates. At this time, you would submit a copy of your medical school diploma and final medical school transcript, which ECFMG will verify with your school. Please read instructions in the application carefully. Although both step I and step II are required, they do not have to be taken in order. You can apply to take the Step 1 and/or Step 2 CK (Clinical Knowledge) exams in this application. The examination fee for each exam in the eligibility periods ending in 2009 is $710; applicants must download the ECFMG Certification Information Booklet and the USMLE Bulletin of Information at www.ecfmg.org and follow the procedures described in the booklet.
Once ECFMG determines you are eligible to take the exams; they will forward your registration information to the National Board of Medical Examiners (NBME) www.nbme.org. NBME will send you your Step 1 or Step 2 CK scheduling permit. Once you have this permit, you can schedule the test through Prometric, Inc (www.prometric.com) who provides scheduling and test centers for the USMLE. The center most commonly used in Rhode Island is in Warwick.. The testing day for Step 1 lasts about eight hours. The testing day for Step 2 CK lasts about nine hours. A brief summary of the content of the tests can be found in the USMLE Bulletin of Information.
The Step 2 Clinical Skills Exam is a one-day exam that mirrors a physician's typical workday in a clinic. The exam is focused on evaluating your ability to gather and interpret clinical patient data, your spoken English language proficiency and appropriate interpersonal skills. You will examine eleven or twelve "standardized patients" who are people trained to portray real patients. The Step 2 CS exam is administered in Philadelphia, Atlanta, Los Angeles, Chicago and Houston. The cost for the exam for 2008 is $1,200 and you must also cover the cost of travel and accommodations. The Step 2 CS application is submitted through ECFMG. See www.ecfmg.org for application form.
After successfully passing all exams, ECFMG grants you a certificate. You are then able to apply to Graduate Medical Education Programs or "medical residencies" as they are commonly known.
ERAS application and NRMP application- The Electronic Residency Application Service was developed by the Association of American Medical Colleges (AAMC) to transmit residency applications, letters of recommendation, Dean's letters, transcripts and other supporting documents to residency program directors via the internet. ERAS is available to foreign medical graduates through ECFMG. Go to www.ecfmg.org/eras for more information. The fee for ERAS in 2008 is $60 for the first 10 residency program applications, more for additional programs. There is also a fee of $75 to ECFMG and a $50 fee for your USMLE transcripts.
The National Resident Matching Program (NRMP) is a service that matches medical graduates with residency programs. They take your "rank choices" and match them with the "rank choices" of residency programs. The fee for 2007-2008 is $90. You can find more information at www.nrmp.org
Post Graduate Medical Education Program- Programs are generally three years, longer for some specialties.
USMLE Step 3 - Most states require completion of a portion of the Post Graduate Medical Education Program prior to taking the USMLE Step 3. Rhode Island does not have this requirement, however most medical students take the test while in their Post Graduate Medical Education Program. You can find more information at the Federation of State Medical Boards.
Once you complete three years of your Post Graduate Medical Education Program, you can apply for a medical license with the Medical Board of Rhode Island.
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