Foreign medical graduates educational commission for foreign medical graduates

applicant information

 available in the ERAS Support Services section of the ECFMG website. Information on the status

of requests for electronic transmittal of USMLE transcripts via ERAS is not available through OASIS. If the program

does not participate in ERAS, you must submit a transcript request using Form 172 and pay the required fee.

Important Note: If you took the former ECFMG CSA, your USMLE transcript will indicate only that you

have CSA examination history. It will not provide any additional information on your attempt(s) on the CSA.

To request official copies of your CSA performance history, you must complete a 

Request for an Official

ECFMG

®

 CSA

®

 History Chart (Form 297)

 and submit it to ECFMG with the appropriate fee. Form 297 is

available in the Resources section of the ECFMG website and from ECFMG, upon request. For each

attempt on the ECFMG CSA, the Official ECFMG CSA History Chart includes the month and year of the

administration and the result of your performance. For additional information, refer to the instructions that

accompany Form 297.

Score Rechecks

For all Steps and Step Components, a change in your score or in your pass/fail outcome based on a recheck is an

extremely remote possibility. However, a recheck will be performed if you submit a 

Request for Recheck of USMLE

®

Step 1, Step 2 CK, or Step 2 CS Score (Form 265)

 and the fee for this service to ECFMG. Form 265 is available in the

Resources section of the ECFMG website and from ECFMG, upon request. Your request must be received by ECFMG

no later than 90 days after your score report release date. See Score Rechecks in the 

USMLE Bulletin of Information

for more information.

Last updated: September 7, 2017

Copyright © 2017 by the Educational Commission for Foreign Medical Graduates. All rights reserved.

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The United States Medical Licensing Examination (USMLE)

About USMLE

 | 

Registration and Test Delivery Entities

 | 

Applying for Examination

 | 

Scheduling the Examination

 |

Preparing for Examination

 | 

Taking the Examination

 | 

USMLE Program and Irregular Behavior

 | 

Examination Results

 |

Reexamination and Reapplication

Reexamination and Reapplication

USMLE policy generally does not allow applicants to retake a Step or Step Component if they have already passed

that Step or Step Component. However, there are exceptions for the purpose of complying with a time limit imposed by

a medical licensing authority or another authority recognized by the USMLE program. See 'Time Limit for Completing

Examination Requirements' below.

If you fail a Step or Step Component, you must reapply, including payment of the appropriate fee(s), to retake the

exam. If you do not take an exam during your assigned eligibility period, you must reapply, including payment of the

appropriate fee(s), if you wish to take the exam; in this event, you may reapply at any time, however, ECFMG

cannot begin to process a subsequent application for this exam until at least four weeks after the end of the

eligibility period for the exam you did not take.

Number of Attempts Allowed

The USMLE program limits to six the total number of times an examinee can take the same Step or Step Component.

An examinee is ineligible to take a Step or Step Component after six or more prior attempts to pass that Step or

Step Component, including incomplete attempts. All attempts at a Step or Step Component are counted toward the

limit, regardless of when the exams were taken.

For the purpose of U.S. medical licensure, state medical licensing authorities may limit the number of attempts allowed

to pass each Step or Step Component. Information regarding specific state requirements can be obtained on the

FSMB website

.

Time Between Examination Attempts

The USMLE program has established rules on how quickly you can retake the same Step or Step Component. You

may not take the same examination more than three times within a 12-month period. Your fourth and subsequent

attempts must be at least 12 months after your first attempt at that exam and at least six months after your most

recent attempt at that exam.

Example: An examinee took and failed her first attempt at Step 1 on January 15, 2016, her second attempt

at Step 1 on April 15, 2016, and her third attempt at Step 1 on September 15, 2016. In January 2017, the

examinee applied for a fourth attempt at Step 1, and wanted the March-April-May eligibility period. The

earliest date that was both 12 months after her first attempt on January 15, 2016 and six months after her

most recent attempt on September 15, 2016 was March 15, 2017. Since the March-April-May eligibility

period began before this date, the earliest eligibility period that the applicant could request was

April-May-June.

When you reapply, your eligibility period will be adjusted, if necessary, to comply with these rules. You must read the

editions of the ECFMG Information Booklet and the USMLE Bulletin of Information that pertain to the eligibility period

in which you take the exam.

Time Limit for Completing Examination Requirements

For the purpose of ECFMG Certification, you must pass the USMLE Steps and Step Components required for ECFMG

Certification within a seven-year period. If you do not pass all Steps and Step Components required for ECFMG

Certification within a maximum of seven years, your earliest USMLE passing performance will no longer be valid for

ECFMG Certification. See 

Time Limit for Completing Examination Requirements

 in Examinations for ECFMG

Certification.

If you have passed a Step or Step Component but this passing performance is no longer valid for ECFMG

Certification, you may request an exception to retake the previously passed exam that is no longer valid.

For the purpose of U.S. medical licensure, time limits to complete the USMLE are established by state medical

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