In December 2018, NBME President Peter Katsufrakis and FSMB President Humayun Chaudhry wrote in opposition of USMLE Step 1 changes in from Improving Residency Selection Requires Close Study and Better Understanding of Stakeholder Needs: "If students reduce time and effort devoted to preparing for Step 1, they may indeed devote attention to other activities that will prepare them to be good physicians. This would arguably be an ideal outcome of such a change. However, if students were to devote more time to activities that make them less prepared to provide quality care, such as binge-watching the most recent Netflix series or compulsively updating their Instagram account, this could negatively impact residency performance and ultimately patient safety. We know that assessment drives learning, so another concern resulting from a shift to pass/fail scoring may be a less knowledgeable physician population." This was met with significant backlash from students and the medical education community as this was felt to be a "tone-deaf assumption that medical trainees with more time may instead redirect their effort toward Netflix and Instagram." Within a few days, Katsufrakis and Chaudhry issued an apology and removed the phrase. Exam Pricing and NBME Executive Salaries NBME and USMLE were met with criticism when they announced their raising cost for Step standardized tests. Kevin MD wrote, "Safeguards are needed to ensure fees for mandatory testing such as the USMLE do not exceed reasonable operating costs, particularly for financially vulnerable medical students." Registering for Step exams test cost between $645 and $985. The NBME executives received public criticism related to their increasing salaries. "Former NBME President Dr. Melnick's compensation increased from $399,160 in 2001 to over $1.2 million in 2016, almost in parallel with the tripling of USMLE costs." "According to the 2017 Form 990, Schedule J, two lower executives received total compensation over $700,000; another two over $600,000; another three receiving over $500,000, and another 6 receiving over $400,000." See also USMLE Step 2CK USMLE Step 2CS USMLE Step 3 National Board of Medical Examiners United States Medical Licensing Examination References External links USMLE Official Website Medical education in the United States Standardized tests in healthcare education United States Medical Licensing Examination