United States Medical Licensing Exam-Clinical Skills

Year: 2005

Resolution Number: 2

Action Taken: Approved

Status:

Author(s): Venkat K. Rao, MD

Sponsor: Swarn G. Rajpal, MD

On behalf of: International MedicalGraduates Section

Committee: E (Science & Education Affairs)

Resolved Section(s):
RESOLVED: That the Michigan Delegation to the AMA ask the AMA to ask the National Board of Medical Examiners to remove the spoken English proficiency test from the United States Medical Licensing Exam. RATIONALE: Current AMA and MSMS policy led the Committee to support this resolution. The Committee understood the concerns regarding poor communication, including the impact on safety and medical liability; the Committee, however, believes there are currently multiple filters in place. Such existing filters include the informal process of evaluating communication skills during residency selection and the indirect assessment of communication and language skills in Section 2 of the USMLE Step 2 Clinical Skills (CS) Examination. Section 2 of the CS Examination includes assessment of questioning skills, information sharing skills, professional manner and rapport. The Committee believed that for a large portion of our membership, passage of this resolution will help eliminate the hassles and burdens created by this section of the exam.

Fiscal Note: NULL

Resolution: View PDF for United States Medical Licensing Exam-Clinical Skills