USMLE - United States Medical Licensing Examination
USMLE STEP 1
Step 1 assesses whether you understand and can apply important concepts of the sciences basic to the practice of medicine, with special emphasis on principles and mechanisms underlying health, disease, and modes of therapy. Step 1 ensures mastery of not only the sciences undergirding the safe and competent practice of medicine in the present, but also the scientific principles required for maintenance of competence through lifelong learning.
Introduction
Step 1 consists of multiple-choice questions prepared by examination committees composed of faculty members, teachers, investigators, and clinicians with recognized prominence in their respective fields. Committee members are selected to provide broad representation from the academic, practice, and licensing communities across the United States and Canada. The test is designed to measure basic science knowledge. Some questions test the examinee's fund of information per se, but the majority of questions require the examinee to interpret graphic and tabular material, to identify gross and microscopic pathologic and normal specimens, and to solve problems through application of basic science principles.
Step 1 is constructed from an integrated content outline that organizes basic science content according to general principles and individual organ systems. Test questions are classified in one of these major areas depending on whether they focus on concepts and principles that are important across organ systems or within individual organ systems.
Sections focusing on individual organ systems are subdivided according to normal and abnormal processes, principles of therapy, and psychosocial, cultural, and environmental considerations. Each examination covers content related to the traditionally defined disciplines of anatomy, behavioral sciences, biochemistry, microbiology, pathology, pharmacology, and physiology, as well as interdisciplinary areas including genetics, aging, immunology, nutrition, and molecular and cell biology. While not all topics listed in the content outline are included in every examination, overall content coverage is comparable in the various examination forms that will be taken by different examinees.
Single One Best Answer Questions
Step 1 includes only single questions with one best answer. This is the traditional most frequently used multiple-choice format. These items consist of a statement or question followed by three to eleven response options arranged in alphabetical or logical order. A portion of the questions involve interpretation of graphic or pictorial materials. The response options for all questions are lettered (eg, A, B, C, D, E). Examinees are required to select the best answer to the question. Other options may be partially correct, but there is only ONE BEST answer.
Strategies for Answering Single One Best Answer Test Questions
- Read each question carefully. It is important to understand what is being asked.
- Try to generate an answer and then look for it in the option list.
- Alternatively, read each option carefully, eliminating those that are clearly incorrect.
- Of the remaining options, select the one that is most correct.
- If unsure about an answer, it is better to guess since unanswered questions are automatically counted as wrong answers.
Example Question 1
A 32-year-old woman with type 1 diabetes mellitus has had progressive
renal failure over the past 2 years. She is not yet on dialysis.
Examination shows no abnormalities. Her hemoglobin level is 9 g/dL,
hematocrit is 28%, and mean corpuscular volume is 94 µm3.
A blood smear shows normochromic, normocytic cells. Which of the
following is the most likely cause?
A. Acute blood loss
B. Chronic lymphocytic leukemia
C. Erythrocyte enzyme deficiency
D. Erythropoietin deficiency
E. Immunohemolysis
F. Microangiopathic hemolysis
G. Polycythemia vera
H. Sickle cell disease
I. Sideroblastic anemia
J. b-Thalassemia trait
(Answer D)
The Step 1 multiple-choice item tutorial and sample test items currently run on systems using Windows® 95, 98, ME, NT 4.0, 2000, or XP.
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1 content description and sample test materials in portable document
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