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USMLE vs. MCCQE


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Hi there,

 

Overall, the USMLE and MCCQE sequences do test similar material (i.e. practicing medicine in a safe manner).. they test them at different points during medical education though.

 

USMLE Step 1 is typically written after 2nd year in the US, and tests preclinical material. There is no direct equivalent in the LMCC pathway - MCCQE Part 1 is written at the end of medical school and tests mostly the same material as USMLE Step 2 CK (clinical medicine MCQs), though it did have a few basic science MCQs a la Step 1. USMLE Step 2 also has the CS exam, which is an OSCE.. in Canada, this format is saved for MCCQE Part 2, which is written after the first year of residency. The final USMLE exam is Step 3, which is a computer based exam that is also written sometime after graduation from medical school and tests management of patient scenarios.

 

Level of difficulty will depend on your individual strengths in writing MCQs, OSCEs, and clinical case scenarios (short answer qs). Also, it makes a difference whether you are aiming for a high score (important to match to residency in the US) or just to pass (for ease of licensure). USMLE Step 1 did test a lot of factoids not covered in medical school, but I did decently well since I set aside a chunk of time to study. Step 2 CK felt like an endurance test more than anything else (although Step 1 was the same length).. I did spend less time preparing for it since I had already written MCCQE Part 1 (adaptive testing - difficulty goes up or down depending on how you do on the previous section - I felt that all my sections were roughly the same difficulty, but everyone's mileage varies). Step 2 CS is graded on a pass/fail basis, so I can't tell precisely how I fared.

 

Ian Wong and summervirus have also kindly posted their advice and experiences with these exams - try a search (in the preclinical and clinical forums if I remember correctly).. Feel free to post if you have further questions.

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Hi there,

 

Overall, the USMLE and MCCQE sequences do test similar material (i.e. practicing medicine in a safe manner).. they test them at different points during medical education though.

 

USMLE Step 1 is typically written after 2nd year in the US, and tests preclinical material. There is no direct equivalent in the LMCC pathway - MCCQE Part 1 is written at the end of medical school and tests mostly the same material as USMLE Step 2 CK (clinical medicine MCQs), though it did have a few basic science MCQs a la Step 1. USMLE Step 2 also has the CS exam, which is an OSCE.. in Canada, this format is saved for MCCQE Part 2, which is written after the first year of residency. The final USMLE exam is Step 3, which is a computer based exam that is also written sometime after graduation from medical school and tests management of patient scenarios.

 

Level of difficulty will depend on your individual strengths in writing MCQs, OSCEs, and clinical case scenarios (short answer qs). Also, it makes a difference whether you are aiming for a high score (important to match to residency in the US) or just to pass (for ease of licensure). USMLE Step 1 did test a lot of factoids not covered in medical school, but I did decently well since I set aside a chunk of time to study. Step 2 CK felt like an endurance test more than anything else (although Step 1 was the same length).. I did spend less time preparing for it since I had already written MCCQE Part 1 (adaptive testing - difficulty goes up or down depending on how you do on the previous section - I felt that all my sections were roughly the same difficulty, but everyone's mileage varies). Step 2 CS is graded on a pass/fail basis, so I can't tell precisely how I fared.

 

Ian Wong and summervirus have also kindly posted their advice and experiences with these exams - try a search (in the preclinical and clinical forums if I remember correctly).. Feel free to post if you have further questions.

 

do people generally spend the whole summer after 2nd year just studying for the usmle step1? or can anyone work in research AND study for usmle at the same time?

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do people generally spend the whole summer after 2nd year just studying for the usmle step1? or can anyone work in research AND study for usmle at the same time?

 

Our summer after 2nd year was 3 months long.. so you can definitely do research and electives as well. It depends how focused a studier you are, how well you already learned the material from the first two years, what other commitments you have, and what score you are aiming for (pass or apply to competitive US residency?), but I wrote my Step 1 6 weeks into summer break, and spent the rest of the time doing electives before clerkship started (did research the summer after 1st year).

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