The United States Medical Licensing Examination (USMLE) is the single most important series of tests that you will take throughout your medical education. These four Steps are taken through medical school & residency and will determine your fate when deciding to practice medicine in the United States. When applying for residency and fellowships after medical school, you must have the results to these Steps to complete your application process.
The Electronic Residency Application Service (ERAS) is the standard online application for which medical students and physicians should apply. If you are a medical student at an American medical school, you must have at least taken and passed your USMLE Step 1 before applying to residency. Furthermore, you must have taken and passed your USMLE Step 2 Clinical Knowledge and Step 2 Clinical Skills examinations before beginning residency. If you are a student or graduate of a medical school outside the United States, you must have taken and passed your USMLE Steps 1, 2 Clinical Knowledge, and 2 Clinical Skills before applying to residency and hold an ECFMG (Educational Commission for Foreign Medical Graduates) Certificate. Your USMLE Step 3 examination should be taken after graduating medical school but before completing your residency training program.
The USMLE Step 1, Step 2 Clinical Knowledge, and Step 2 Clinical Skills examinations are one-day tests and the USMLE Step 3 exam is a two-day test. All results should be ready on the first Wednesday after three full weeks of your examination. Your results should be ready no later than 4-6 weeks after your examination, unless you take your test after changes have been made to the exam. In that instance, you must allow at least two months for all results to come in from the previous test forms before releasing any data on the new forms of the exam.
Plan forward when it comes to scheduling your USMLE Steps to prevent any delays of score reporting that may conflict with your ERAS application and deadlines. Allow yourself enough time to study for your USMLE Step and plan enough time to receive your scores and send them to your respective medical school and residency/ fellowship programs of your choice.