By the time the testing period ends on June 30, nearly 500 regional medical students will have taken their licensing exams at Alpert Medical School.
Disheartened. Upset. At a loss.
When students at medical schools nationwide learned this spring that testing sites administering the US Medical Licensing Examination (USMLE) Step 1 and Step 2 Clinical Knowledge (CK) exams would close and cancel test appointments due to the COVID-19 pandemic, many were overwhelmed by the uncertainty.
Both tests are essential milestones in the academic careers of every medical student. Step 1 enables students to proceed following their first two years. The Step 2 CK exam is a critical moment for students near the end of medical school, who need to pass the test and a corresponding skills assessment on the way to earning an MD and applying for residency programs.
In a team effort to support students at Brown and well beyond, faculty and staff at The Warren Alpert Medical School joined forces with colleagues across the University to envision and execute a plan to become a test site for students taking the Step 1 and Step 2 exams—making it the first site of its kind in the nation, and still the only one in New England.
By the time the testing period at Brown ends on June 30, nearly 500 students from medical schools around the region will have taken their licensing exams at the site.
“It is no coincidence at all that Brown was chosen to be the first school to pilot the regional testing model,” Constance Panton MD’21 says. “And it is all because of the incredible dedication of our administration in advocating for us.”
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