{"id":19527,"date":"2023-04-24T08:35:00","date_gmt":"2023-04-24T08:35:00","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/www.kaptest.com\/blog\/prep\/?p=19527"},"modified":"2023-04-26T17:12:41","modified_gmt":"2023-04-26T17:12:41","slug":"am-i-eligible-to-take-the-usmle","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/wpapp.kaptest.com\/study\/usmle\/am-i-eligible-to-take-the-usmle\/","title":{"rendered":"Am I Eligible to Take the USMLE?"},"content":{"rendered":"<p>Are you wondering what you need to be eligible to take\u00a0<a href=\"http:\/\/www.usmle.org\/\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener noreferrer\">the USMLE<\/a>? This quick overview should help reassure you that, in most cases, the answer is, \u201cYes, you\u2019re eligible!\u201d\u00a0<a href=\"https:\/\/www.kaptest.com\/medical-prep\/usmle\/kaplan-usmle-prep\/about-the-usmle?utm_source=residencysecrets&amp;utm_medium=kaplan-blog&amp;utm_term=us-med&amp;utm_content=blog-article&amp;utm_campaign=med-usmle-general-2015\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener noreferrer\">Passing all three tests of the USMLE<\/a>\u00a0sequence is required for any doctor to obtain a license to practice medicine in the U.S.<\/p>\n<p>If you\u2019re an U.S. citizen, your eligibility to take the USMLE must be in one of the following categories at the time you apply <i>and<\/i>\u00a0on the day of your examination:<\/p>\n<ul>\n<li>To be eligible to take<b>\u00a0<\/b><a href=\"https:\/\/www.kaptest.com\/medical-prep\/usmle\/try-us-for-free\/us-med-try-us-for-free#try-step-1-high-yield?utm_source=residencysecrets&amp;utm_medium=kaplan-blog&amp;utm_term=us-med&amp;utm_content=blog-article&amp;utm_campaign=med-usmle-general-2015\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener noreferrer\"><b>USMLE Step 1 and Step 2 CK<\/b><\/a><b>:<\/b>\u00a0You must be a medical student who is officially enrolled in, or a graduate of, a U.S. or Canadian medical school program leading to an MD degree that\u2019s accredited by the\u00a0<a href=\"http:\/\/www.lcme.org\/\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener noreferrer\">Liaison Committee on Medical Education (LCME)<\/a>.\u00a0<b>Or\u00a0<\/b>you need to be a medical student who is officially enrolled in, or a graduate of, a U.S. medical school leading to a DO degree that is accredited by the\u00a0<a href=\"https:\/\/www.osteopathic.org\/Pages\/default.aspx\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener noreferrer\">American Osteopathic Association (AOA)<\/a>.<\/li>\n<li>To be eligible to take<b>\u00a0<\/b><a href=\"https:\/\/www.kaptest.com\/medical-prep\/usmle\/usmle-prep-course\/step-3-comparison?utm_source=residencysecrets&amp;utm_medium=kaplan-blog&amp;utm_term=us-med&amp;utm_content=blog-article&amp;utm_campaign=med-usmle-general-2015\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener noreferrer\"><b>USMLE Step 3<\/b><\/a><b>:<\/b> Before submitting your application, you must obtain an MD degree (or its equivalent) or a DO degree from a U.S. or Canadian medical school that is accredited by the LCME or the AOA, and you must pass Step 1 and Step 2 CK.<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n<p><div  style='padding-bottom:10px; ' class='av-special-heading av-special-heading-h3    avia-builder-el-0  el_before_av_heading  avia-builder-el-first  '><h3 class='av-special-heading-tag '  itemprop=\"headline\"  >Are osteopathic physicians eligible to take the USMLE?<\/h3><div class='special-heading-border'><div class='special-heading-inner-border' ><\/div><\/div><\/div><br \/>\nIf you\u2019re pursuing licensure as an osteopathic physician, you\u2019ll need to take either the Comprehensive Osteopathic Medical Licensing Examination of the United States of America (<a href=\"https:\/\/www.kaptest.com\/medical-prep\/usmle\/usmle-prep-course\/comlex-high-yield?utm_source=residencysecrets&amp;utm_medium=kaplan-blog&amp;utm_term=us-med&amp;utm_content=blog-article&amp;utm_campaign=med-usmle-general-2015\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener noreferrer\">COMLEX-USA<\/a>) or the USMLE. However, since osteopathic medical schools require the COMLEX-USA, you won\u2019t need to take both exams.<\/p>\n<p>Some DO students feel they need to take the USMLE to get accepted into an allopathic residency. While that\u2019s not necessary, keep in mind that a few allopathic residency programs prefer not to use the COMLEX-USA because its scoring system is different than that of the USMLE.<br \/>\n<div  style='padding-bottom:10px; ' class='av-special-heading av-special-heading-h3    avia-builder-el-1  el_after_av_heading  el_before_av_heading  '><h3 class='av-special-heading-tag '  itemprop=\"headline\"  >Are IMGs eligible to take the USMLE?<\/h3><div class='special-heading-border'><div class='special-heading-inner-border' ><\/div><\/div><\/div><br \/>\nIf you\u2019re an international medical graduate (IMG), your school should be listed in the\u00a0<a href=\"http:\/\/www.wdoms.org\/\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener noreferrer\">World Directory of Medical Schools<\/a>\u00a0as meeting Educational Commission for Foreign Medical Graduates (ECFMG) eligibility requirements. You\u2019re eligible to\u00a0<a href=\"https:\/\/www.kaptest.com\/pages\/road-to-residency?utm_source=residencysecrets&amp;utm_medium=kaplan-blog&amp;utm_term=us-med&amp;utm_content=blog-article&amp;utm_campaign=med-usmle-general-2015\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener noreferrer\">take the USMLE<\/a>\u00a0if you\u2019re officially enrolled in, or a graduate of, a medical school that\u2019s outside the U.S. and Canada.<\/p>\n<p>As an IMG, you\u2019re expected to complete USMLE Steps 1 and 2 CK to be certified by the ECFMG. This certification is also required for <a href=\"https:\/\/www.kaptest.com\/medical-prep\/usmle\/visa?utm_source=residencysecrets&amp;utm_medium=kaplan-blog&amp;utm_term=us-med&amp;utm_content=blog-article&amp;utm_campaign=med-usmle-general-2015\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener noreferrer\">visa sponsorship<\/a>\u00a0and for you to be eligible to take Step 3 of the USMLE.<br \/>\n<div  style='padding-bottom:10px; ' class='av-special-heading av-special-heading-h3    avia-builder-el-2  el_after_av_heading  el_before_av_sidebar  '><h3 class='av-special-heading-tag '  itemprop=\"headline\"  >What about graduates from a non-accredited institution?<\/h3><div class='special-heading-border'><div class='special-heading-inner-border' ><\/div><\/div><\/div><br \/>\nPerhaps you graduated from a non-accredited medical school in the U.S. or Canada. Maybe you\u2019re eligible for initial licensure by a U.S. medical licensing authority, but you\u2019re not in one of the eligibility categories. You can take the USMLE only when that medical licensing authority makes a specific request. The medical licensing authority should submit the sponsorship request to the USMLE Secretariat before you apply for each Step.<br \/>\n<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>Are you wondering what you need to be eligible to take\u00a0the USMLE? This quick overview should help reassure you that, in most cases, the answer is, \u201cYes, you\u2019re eligible!\u201d\u00a0Passing all three tests of the USMLE\u00a0sequence is required for any doctor to obtain a license to practice medicine in the U.S. If you\u2019re an U.S. citizen, [&hellip;]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":43079,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":[],"categories":[145],"tags":[157],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/wpapp.kaptest.com\/study\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/19527"}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/wpapp.kaptest.com\/study\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/wpapp.kaptest.com\/study\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/wpapp.kaptest.com\/study\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/wpapp.kaptest.com\/study\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=19527"}],"version-history":[{"count":6,"href":"https:\/\/wpapp.kaptest.com\/study\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/19527\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":43257,"href":"https:\/\/wpapp.kaptest.com\/study\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/19527\/revisions\/43257"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/wpapp.kaptest.com\/study\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/43079"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/wpapp.kaptest.com\/study\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=19527"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/wpapp.kaptest.com\/study\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=19527"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/wpapp.kaptest.com\/study\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=19527"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}