Rule 100
3 CCR 713-17
COLORADO MEDICAL BOARD

RULES AND REGULATIONS RELATING TO THE UNITED STATES MEDICAL LICENSING EXAMINATION, THE COMPREHENSIVE OSTEOPATHIC MEDICAL LICENSING EXAMINATION-USA, AND THE FEDERAL LICENSURE EXAMINATION

Basis and Purpose: The authority for the promulgation of these rules and regulations by the Colorado Medical Board (“Board”) is set forth in sections 12-36-104 (1)(a), 12-36-111, and 12-36-107(1)(a), (b) and (c), C.R.S.

The purpose of the rules and regulations is to set forth administrative guidelines for eligibility and acceptance of The United States Medical Licensing Examination (“USMLE”) , The Comprehensive Osteopathic Medical Licensing Examination–USA (“COMLEX-USA”), and The Federal Licensure Examination (“FLEX”) as approved examinations pursuant to section 12-36-107 (1), C.R.S.  These rules are not meant to preclude acceptance of any licensing exam previously approved by the board.

Rule:

1.	To be eligible to apply for USMLE Step 3 or COMLEX-USA Level 3, applicant must  have:

a.	obtained the degree of Medical Doctor (“M.D.”) or Doctor Of Osteopathic Medicine (“D.O.);  and, 

b.	successfully completed both USMLE Steps 1 and 2 or COMLEX-USA Level 1 and 2.

2.   To be eligible to sit for the USMLE Step 3 or COMLEX-USA Level 3, an applicant must be serving in, or have completed, one year of postgraduate training in a program of graduate medical education accredited by the Accreditation Council for Graduate Medical Education (“ACGME”) of the American Medical Association (“AMA”) or the American Osteopathic Association (“AOA”).

3.   An examinee who fails USMLE Step 3 or COMLEX-USA Level 3 may be reexamined at any subsequent examination upon payment of the required fee.

4.   In order to be eligible for licensure, an applicant must successfully complete USMLE Steps 1, 2, and 3 or COMLEX-USA Levels 1,2, 3, within seven (7) years of the date the applicant first sat for any step of the USMLE or any level of the COMLEX, irrespective of whether the applicant passed said step or level. 

a.	This paragraph 4 shall not apply to applicants who are enrolled in a Ph.D. degree program from a regionally accredited university simultaneously with an LCME accredited medical degree program or an AOA accredited osteopathic degree program. However, such Ph.D./M.D./D.O. applicants must have successfully completed USMLE Steps 1,2, and 3 or COMLEX-USA Levels 1,2, and 3 within ten (10) years of the date the applicant first sat for any step of the USMLE or any level of the COMLEX, irrespective of whether the applicant passed said step or level.

b.	Upon applicant’s showing of good cause, the Board may waive the time requirements set forth in this paragraph 4.  Any such waiver shall be based upon the circumstances relating to the particular individual’s application. The decision to grant or deny such a waiver shall be in the sole discretion of the board.

5. The Board shall accept the minimum passing score as recommended by the National Board of Medical Examiners for USMLE Step 3 and by THE National Board of Osteopathic Medical Examiners for COMLEX-USA Level 3. Each USMLE step or COMLEX-USA level must be passed individually in order to successfully COMPLETE the USMLE or COMLEX-USA examination. Individual step or level scores shall not be averaged to compute an overall score.

6.  A failure of any USMLE step or COMLEX-USA level, regardless of the jurisdiction in which the examination was administered, shall be considered a failure of that step for purposes of Colorado licensure and shall be considered for purposes of determining compliance with the requirements of paragraph 4 above.

7.  The USMLE examination is designed to supersede and replace the FLEX examination and the National Board of Medical Examiners’ examination sequence (“NBME”) over time.
	
a.   For those medical students and physicians who may have already successfully completed part of the FLEX or National Board Examination sequence, the Board designates the following combinations of examinations, and passing score for each, which shall be considered comparable to the existing examinations.  In order to meet the examination requirement for licensure, the examination sequence combinations illustrated above must be successfully completed no later than January 1, 2000.

NBME Part I (passing score = 75) or USMLE Step 1 (passing score = 75)
 NBME Part II (passing score = 75) or USMLE Step 2 (passing score = 75) 
NBME Part III (passing score = 75) or USMLE Step 3 (passing score = 75)

Or

FLEX Component 1(passing score = 75)
plus
USMLE Step 3 (passing score = 75)

Or

NBME Part I (passing score = 75) or USMLE Step 1 (passing score = 75)
plus
NBME Part II (passing score = 75) or USMLE Step 2(passing score = 75)
plus
FLEX Component 2 (passing score = 75)

b.   For those applicants who successfully completed the FLEX, the Board finds the following minimum scores required to meet the requirements of section 12-36-107(1), C.R.S.:

		DATE OF EXAM			ACCEPTED SCORES

		Before June 1985			75% weighted average;
							passed in one sitting;	
							no scrambling or 
replacement of scores.

 Between June 1985			75 each component;
 and December 1993 			both components must be 
						passed within 7 years

Effective: 5/30/93; Revised:1/30/95; Revised: 5/30/95; Revised: 12/1/95; Revised: 9/30/98; Revised 6/30/00; Revised 12/30/00; Revised 11/15/02, Effective 1/30/03; Revised 8/19/10, Effective 10/15/10; Revised 5/22/14, Effective 7/15/14; Revised 8/20/15, Effective 10/15/15