Effective June 17, 2012, changes to the Educational Commission for Foreign Medical Graduates (ECFMG) Step 2 Clinical Skills Examination will help evaluate a fuller range of competencies, including communication and analysis skills.
International medical graduate (IMG) physicians may want to pass this information along if they mentor and advise young physicians or physicians-in-training who would like to come to the United States to practice.
The Communications and Interpersonal Skills (CIS) subcomponent has been redesigned to assess a series of communications functions, including fostering the relationship, gathering information, providing information, making decisions, and supporting emotions. Several additional functions, such as helping patients with behavior change, are still being developed.
A new patient note also will be included in the new exam. Physicians taking the exam will continue to be asked to document pertinent history and physical exam findings, as well as list diagnostic tests to be ordered. However, they’ll now also be asked to create a reasoned, focused differential (maximum of three diagnoses) and indicate how the patient history and physical exam supports (or refutes) each potential diagnoses.
Read more information on the changes to the examination.