FACT POLICE: The USMLE Step 1 Pass Rate

Have you heard that more students are failing the USMLE Step 1 exam than ever before, or that 25-50% of students are deferring their Step 1 exam because they’re unprepared to pass the test? Me, too! Thing is, there’s a lot of silly, sky-is-falling, and self-interested misinformation out there. So today, I’m back as the FACT POLICE, to explain how we should - and shouldn’t - make sense of changes in the pass rate. _ NOTES: 1. Wanna re-watch the original episode of FACT POLICE? It’s here: FACT POLICE: Residency applicants and residency positions    • FACT POLICE: Residency applicants and resi...   2. Here’s the X post with the good ol’ days of Step 1 shower studying: https://x.com/seandreyer/status/15146... 3. If somehow you missed my video on the USMLE cheating scandal, it’s here: Mailbag: Wrapping Up the USMLE Cheating Scandal    • Mailbag: Wrapping Up the USMLE Cheating Sc...   4. And here’s the paper on the University of Michigan’s 14% deferral rate in 2015-2016: Daniel M, et al. Perspect Med Educ 2019; 8(3): 187. https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/arti... _ MUSIC: “Clutch,” by Nicolas Major.