Board pass rates?

[reggae girl]

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Well, I know that if a school has let's say a 40% pass rate for Step 1, then it should be cause for concern that students aren't learning much. But my question is, what's the typical Step 1 pass rate for med schools (you can break it down into tiers if you want to)? Also can you search around your prospective's school's website for that info or do you have to call their office?

 

[Code Brown]

Well, I know that if a school has let's say a 40% pass rate for Step 1, then it should be cause for concern that students aren't learning much. But my question is, what's the typical Step 1 pass rate for med schools (you can break it down into tiers if you want to)? Also can you search around your prospective's school's website for that info or do you have to call their office?

Mid-90's.

 

[synapse lapse]

40%!!! Good Lord, that's lower than the avg IMG pass rate of 57%. To answer your question, 90% of Allopathic students pass Step 1 on first try, and 73% of Osteopathics Students pas first try. Data is from 2003 from First Aid for Step 1 book. Most schools publish it on their website, if not they will tell you at interview.

 

[njbmd]

Well, I know that if a school has let's say a 40% pass rate for Step 1, then it should be cause for concern that students aren't learning much. But my question is, what's the typical Step 1 pass rate for med schools (you can break it down into tiers if you want to)? Also can you search around your prospective's school's website for that info or do you have to call their office?

Hi there,
For American schools, the USMLE Step I pass rate is usually above 90% for most schools and most are in the 95-98% range. These numbers don't help you too much if you find that you are in the 2-5% that doesn't pass Step I or you pass but your score is less than the mean and you want to go into a competitive specialty.

This is an important question to ask on your interview and ask for pass rate for first-time takers. You also want to know the median score too. This may be posted on a website but you may have to ask. The other thing to ask is what kind of preparation is given for students. This may be formal coursework or informal prep sessions given by upperclassmen (actually the best prep because they have taken the test the year before). You also want to know when second year classes end and how much study time do you have to get your review done.

Do be aware that USMLE is a very individual thing and really mirrors the performance of the individual more than the school itself. Like I said above, the median score and pass rate is pretty meaningless to you if find that you have failed or didn't do as well as you wanted but worth a check if you need to compare schools.

njbmd 🙂

 

[reggae girl]

Thanks for all the responses so far. NJBMD, on one of my interviews the school was kinda sketchy when I asked about their pass rates... I guess I should be researching that one. Thanks for your insight, you give me questions to ask during 2nd look weekend and follow up phone calls.

 

[Blue Scrub]

Thanks for all the responses so far. NJBMD, on one of my interviews the school was kinda sketchy when I asked about their pass rates... I guess I should be researching that one. Thanks for your insight, you give me questions to ask during 2nd look weekend and follow up phone calls.

Just wondering what NJBMD is? Im not familiar with it...

 

[DrMom]

Just wondering what NJBMD is? Im not familiar with it...

look at the username 2 posts up from yours 😉 Think "initials plus MD"🙂