But for large scale, high stakes exams like the USMLE, using the same test questions simply isn’t possible. That’s not a problem if you’re talking about a high school English class. Raw scores are great as long all examinees take the same test. When students take the exact same test, it’s easy to decide whose performance was better. By simply glancing at the percentage of items that each student answered correctly, it’s easy to appreciate who scored higher, and by how much the examinees’ performance differed. In fact, we can do it a glance, without any advanced arithmetic. If we want to compare Student A to Student B, it’s easy to do.
The test has 20 questions, and Student A answers 16 items correctly, while Student B answers 15. Suppose we have two students, Student A and Student B, who each take a test. The nice thing about raw scores is that they’re easily interpretable. I mean, why can’t they just report the results of the USMLE as the percentage of items that each test-taker got right, just like your high school teachers did?įor most tests, reporting the raw score – the absolute number (or percentage) of question items that the examinee answered correctly – is the simplest and most informative way to show results. Why does the USMLE use a three-digit score, anyway? But it’s magic nonetheless.Īnd while a good magician never reveals his secrets, today it’s time to pull back the curtain and clarify the general method involved in calculating the USMLE three-digit score.īut first, we have to answer some foundational questions. Of course, unless this is your first time on this site, you’ll know that I often find this kind of magic distasteful. Speculating on just how the USMLE score gets calculated is a cottage industry for many medical students, and has launched the careers of many a Redditor or Student Doctor Network-er. Is there a “curve”? Are certain questions worth more than others? How many questions can you miss and still score 2xx? See, no one seems quite sure how the USMLE determines the three-digit score. But it’s also because – just like with all good magic tricks – there’s a certain sleight of hand involved. This magic stems largely from our foolish idolatry of the three-digit score in residency selection, in which the difference of a few points can become a career-defining turning point. There’s a certain magic associated with the USMLE score.
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