USMLE Announcement (November 2019)
In November 2019, USMLE stated that “characteristics of a patient such as age, sex, gender identity, and occupation are sometimes mentioned within the case vignettes in test items. Some patient characteristics may be important inputs into the diagnostic reasoning process. Others may lead to incorrect conclusions and misdiagnoses. Among the latter are characteristics associated with harmful patient stereotypes”1. They have started an item review that will likely take 3 to 4 years, but reiterate that in the meantime, they will continue to collect feedback via post-examination surveys regarding whether patient portrayals in the test promote stereotypes in medicine. Lastly, they acknowledged that “these are important issues...in healthcare as well as in health professions education and assessment” 1.
“USMLE review focuses on patient individuality.” United States Medical Licensing Examination. 26 November 2019. < https://www.usmle.org/announcements/?ContentId=257> 14 February 2020.