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Philip A. Korzeniowski
UCLA School of Medicine

JAMA. 1991;265(8):976.

	Since this article does not have an abstract, we have provided the first 150 words of the full text PDF and any section headings.

To the Editor.—

The report by Linger¹ as well as the American Medical Association-Medical Student Section advocate pass/fail reporting for the new US Medical Licensing Examination (USMLE), which will soon replace the current National Board of Medical Examiners (NBME) tests. One reason for this position is that some residency program directors use the numerical scores to screen residency applications: 86% of 405 directors would not rank an applicant who had not passed NBME part 1, and 25% of directors would not rank applicants with scores under 450 on NBME part 1, even though 380 is a passing score.² Therefore, by making the USMLE pass/fail, program directors will have to rely on traditional evaluations by medical school faculty, medical school grades and clerkship evaluations, and dean's letters.

I strongly disagree with Linger and the American Medical Association-Medical Student Section. Let us examine the method for advancement that permeates higher . . . [Full Text PDF of this Article]

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