The United States Medical Licensing Examination (USMLE) Step 3 is the fourth USMLE Step that medical students and doctors must take in order to receive their medical license in the United States. It can only be taken after students have graduated from medical school. Some doctors choose to take it prior to beginning their residency training programs, but it is mandatory to have taken and passed it prior to completing residency.
Most residents recommend doctors who are applying for residency training positions to take their USMLE Step 3 prior to beginning residency because they know there is limited time during residency training to properly study and prepare. There is an increasing rate among residents who actually fail their USMLE Step 3, and it is believed to be due to the lack of time put forth toward their USMLE Step 3 preparation during residency training. If you choose to take your USMLE Step 3 during your residency training, you have to juggle your work schedule of managing and treating patients, along with your own study time.
Residency programs generally do not recommend for their applicants to have taken their USMLE Step 3 prior to beginning their residency training. It is not normally considered during the application process for residency, like the USMLE Steps 1, 2 Clinical Knowledge, and 2 Clinical Skills, but looked at only in times of a tie-breaker between candidates. Some residency programs utterly despise applicants from taking their USMLE Steps prior to the beginning of their residency training because residency programs use the results from their residents’ USMLE Step 3 to monitor the success of their residency programs and to increase their statistical ratings among other hospital programs.
I recommend for any one who is applying for a residency training program to take their USMLE Step 3 prior to beginning residency because it takes a lot of time to properly prepare for any USMLE Step, especially USMLE Step 3. The USMLE Step 3 is a culmination of all the USMLE Steps combined together, so you must review information from many years prior when you were in medical school studying your Basic Sciences and Clinical Sciences and Skills. All this information must be fresh in your minds so you can adequately apply it in multiple choice and charting formats over the course of the two-day examination. For more information about the USMLE Steps click here.
It is also crucial to have studied thoroughly for the USMLE Step 3, in case you may have previous failures on any other USMLE Steps. Therefore, you should utilize the time after medical school but before residency to master any learning deficits and test-taking issues you may have that you should overcome prior to beginning residency training. By overcoming these obstacles, you can use that extra time during residency to master other special skills in your residency expertise and pass the Medical Board Exam in your Specialty. This will increase not only the statistical value of your residency program, but your chances of getting into the Fellowship training program of your choice after residency.
If you need any assistance with passing your USMLE Steps, contact Dr. Adrienne Hicks at the USMLE Master System.