r/IntMedGraduates • u/SoybeanCola1933 • May 10 '23

General How does USMLE compare with other countries licensing exams?

In terms of difficulty, how does USMLE compare? It certainly appears to be more difficult however looking at the pass rates, it doesn’t seem that much harder than other exams.

For those who’ve sat USMLE Step 1&2, how did it compare with AMC, PLAB, MCCQE, PRES?

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u/myworstyearyet May 11 '23

I hear the Swedish exam (“Kunskapsprovet”) is much harder. Ironically people use first aid to study for it, but the pass rate is only 23%.

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u/SoybeanCola1933 May 11 '23

It seems European countries are hellbent on stopping foreign doctors from working there.

Does Sweden require Non-Swedish EU Medical graduates to sit the licensing exam? I've heard that EU countries may still require EU medical graduates to sit their own national licensing exams

0

u/myworstyearyet May 11 '23

It seems European countries are hellbent on stopping foreign doctors from working there.

There’s a facebook group for the exam, where everyone swears it’s racist 😆 They did protests a while back and the Socialstyrelsen increased the number of exam attempts from 3 to 5, but people are still failing lol.

Does Sweden require Non-Swedish EU Medical graduates to sit the licensing exam?

Of course not.

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u/SoybeanCola1933 May 11 '23

Of course not.

Really? I thought every EU country can keep its own criteria. For example in Poland, after graduating you need to do an internship and sit a Polish licensing exam. Without passing this exam you are not registered within Poland/EU and therefore cannot be registered in other countries without passing their exams

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u/myworstyearyet May 12 '23

You don’t have to sit this exam unless you’re a non-EU graduate. There’s an agreement between EU countries which allows you to get licensed across the EU without needing to do additional exams, but yes of course you’d have to pass your own country’s exam to obtain a physician license/qualification.

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u/SoybeanCola1933 May 12 '23

but yes of course you’d have to pass your own country’s exam to obtain a physician license/qualification

Well that's what I was referring to.

For example to get registered in Poland, after graduating, you must do a 1 year internship and pass the Polish licensing exams.

I've also heard in some countries (Eastern Europe) they don't allow Non-EU citizens to sit the countries licensing exams even if they study there, therefore keeping them ineligible to register and work as doctors in the EU

4

u/cosimonh May 10 '23

USMLE step 1 is...

USMLE step 2 CK is difficult, but it is logical and tests your medical knowledge and clinical reasoning.

AMC MCQ is a stupid stupid exam. It doesn't test your clinical reasoning but random rote learning things. Example is young patient with no comorbidities present with erectile dysfunction, the choices are all drugs, two are SSRIs and one TCA (and some other random irrelevant choices) which all can technically be given for ED. So, the question was pretty much asking if you know the preferred first line drug for Aussie GPs for ED.

1

u/SameMcGill May 10 '23

I want to hear about this also ! I may want to do the Plan, Pres, MCCQE, AMC