Dropping the Shelf Examination: Does It Affect Student Performance on the United States Medical Licensure Examination Step 2?

Conclusions.-Dropping the shelf examination coincided with a decrease in performance on the USMLE Step 2 pediatric subtest in comparison with the US/Canadian mean. Similar decreases in performance in overall and USMLE Step 2 internal medicine subtest scores also occurred. Numerous confounding variables make it difficult to determine the effect of the shelf exam on Step 2 performance.