Hone

Lessons · Medicine foundations · the national examination sequence, and what passing it is not

The national examinations, and the thing they are not

There is a national examination sequence taken in stages, the last of them usually during postgraduate training rather than before it. It is national: every state board uses the same sequence. It is also not a licence, and passing the final stage authorises nothing by itself.

Hone is a place to practise a career, one idea a day. This is one of its lessons, written out in full and free to read without an account.

In beta. This lesson was written for Hone and has not yet been checked by a physician. Practice material, not professional advice. What that means.

What it is for

Students spend years thinking about these papers and comparatively little about the licence, which is the thing that actually permits practice. The sequence is the part that is the same in every state, so it is the part everybody talks about; the licence is the part that differs, so it is the part that surprises people. Treating the examinations as the finish line is how somebody arrives at the end of training without having started an application.

How to think about it

Hold two timelines at once: the examination sequence, which is national and largely fixed, and the licensing requirements of the state you intend to practise in, which are not. Start reading the second one long before you need it. Which of my remaining steps is national, and which belongs to one state? Boards set these rules themselves and change them, so any figure you plan around has to come from your own board's page rather than from here, from a colleague, or from a summary written in another year.

Worked example

A sequence taken in stages
Not one paper. The stages are spread across years.
The last stage usually falls during training
Which is why it is often taken after employment has begun rather than before.
National, and used by every board
This is the part that does not change when you cross a state line.
Still not a licence
The board issues that, and it wants more than these results.

Your turn

Say what the examination sequence is, that the licence is not.

The examinations are ; the licence is a state's own act

The trap

Treating the final paper as the end of the road. It is the end of the national part, and the state part has not started. Boards set these rules themselves and change them, so any figure you plan around has to come from your own board's page rather than from here, from a colleague, or from a summary written in another year.

Next in Medicine foundations

Every Medicine foundations lesson on one page

Practise the national examination sequence, and what passing it is not on HoneA question on it now, a real problem where there is one, and it is remembered for review. Free, no email needed.