USMLE Step III Exam (Both Days) - General Principles

The USMLE Step III Exam covers a variety of topics related to the general principles that an individual must know in order to practice medicine in an effective, ethical, and safe manner. Many of these principles are similar to the principles covered in the USMLE Step II CK Exam. However, there are also additional principles on the Step III Exam that are not covered on the Step II CK Exam. The general principles covered on the Step III Exam include information related to:

• Infancy and Childhood
• Adolescence
• Adulthood
• Senescence
• Medical Ethics and Jurisprudence
• Applied Biostatistics and Clinical Epidemiology
• System-Based Practice and Patient Safety

The infancy and childhood topics covered on the exam are specifically related to the normal processes of human growth and development that occurs from the time of a child's birth to the time that a child reaches puberty. The adolescence topics covered on the exam specifically relate to the changes that a child experiences during puberty and the aspects of sexuality that emerge during adolescence. The questions on the exam that are related to adulthood cover information related to the normal physical findings that a physician may notice when examining an adult patient and the concerns that may arise from a variety of different patient lifestyles. The senescence topics covered on the exam specifically focus on the physical and mental changes that normally occur due to aging. The topics related to medical ethics and jurisprudence covered on the exam include considerations and concerns associated with assisted suicide, confidentiality, death, dying, palliative care, patient consent, informed patient consent, and the patient-physician relationship. The topics related to applied biostatistics and clinical epidemiology covered on the exam include interpreting medical literature, medical statistics, and understanding medical measurements. Finally, the topics covered on the exam for system-based practice and patient safety include methods for quality improvement, methods for reducing medical errors and near misses, methods for maintaining patient safety, and methods of creating an organized and effective system-based medical practice. Most of the questions on the exam will relate specifically to one or more of the topics mentioned here. However, it is important to note that the topics mentioned here do not necessarily reflect every topic related to the general principles of medicine that will be covered on the exam.