Demise of the USMLE Step-2 CS exam: Rationalizing a way forward.

The COVID-19 pandemic has compelled rethinking and changes in medical education, the most controversial perhaps being the cancelation of USMLE Step-2 Clinical Skills exam (Step-2 CS). What started in March of 2020 as suspension of this professional licensure exam, because of concerns about infection risk for examinees, standardized patients (SPs), and administrators, soon became permanent cancelation in January 2021. Expectedly, it triggered debate in medical education circles. Positively, however, the USMLE regulatory agencies (NBME and FSMB) saw an opportunity to innovate an exam tainted with perceptions of validity deficits, cost, examinee inconvenience, and worries about future pandemics; they therefore called for a public debate to fashion a way forward. We have approached the issue by defining Clinical Skills (CS), exploring its epistemology and historic evolution, including assessment modalities from Hippocratic times to the modern era. We defined CS as the art of medicine manifest in the physician-patient encounter as history taking (driven by communication skills and cultural competence) and physical examination. We classified CS components into knowledge and psychomotor skill domains, established their relative importance in the physician process (clinical reasoning) of diagnosis, thus establishing a theoretical framework for developing valid, reliable, feasible, fair, and verifiable CS assessment. Given the concerns for COVID-19 and future pandemics, we established that CS can largely be assessed remotely, and what could not, can be assessed locally (school/regional consortia level) as part of a USMLE-regulated/supervised assessment regimen with established national standards, thus maintaining USMLE's fiduciary responsibilities. We have suggested a national/regional program for faculty development in CS curriculum development, and assessment, including standard setting skills. This pool of expert faculty will form the nucleus of our proposed USMLE-regulated External Peer Review Initiative (EPRI). Finally, we suggest that CS evolves into an academic discipline/department of its own, rooted in scholarship.

Establishing the NeuroRecovery Network Community Fitness and Wellness facilities: multi-site fitness facilities provide activity-based interventions and assessments for evidence-based functional gains in neurologic disorders.

BACKGROUND: Physical fitness is a necessity for those living with a spinal cord injury, yet access to fitness facilities, equipment, and specially trained fitness experts are limited. METHODS: This article introduces the concept of a network of fitness facilities specially geared towards individuals with spinal cord injury and other neurological disorders. RESULTS: The Community Fitness and Wellness branch of the NeuroRecovery Network was created to provide a continuum of care after traditional rehabilitation for individuals living with a spinal cord injury and other neurological disorders. Community Fitness and Wellness facilities translate activity-based interventions performed during rehabilitation into a community setting as well as provide other fitness and wellness opportunities. Community Fitness and Wellness facilities are staffed by professionals with training on the specialized needs of individuals living with spinal cord injury or other neurological disorders. Standardized assessments evaluate functional, health, and quality of life gains at regular intervals. A national database gathers information on standardized interventions and assessment outcomes providing a mechanism for evaluation of interventions performed in the community setting. CONCLUSIONS: The establishment of Community Fitness and Wellness facilities allows for the quick translation and evaluation of novel, effective approaches from research to individuals in the community. Implications for Rehabilitation Fitness needs of individuals with spinal cord injury living in the community necessitate the use of special equipment and trained staff. Community Fitness and Wellness Programs offer specially trained staff and adaptive equipment providing a continuity of care for those with spinal cord injuries and other neurological disorders.