SUN-815 Assessing Second-Year Medical Students' Perceptions of USMLE Step 1 Relevance of De Novo Quiz Questions in an Endocrine Systems Course

Abstract Disclosure: A. Lee: None. D. Chowdhury: None. N. Corchado: None. Y. Jin: None. M. Fazzari: None. E.J. Epstein: None. Background: The United States Medical Licensing Exam (USMLE) Step 1 exam has transitioned from a numeric score to a pass/fail system.1 This exam remains an integral part of residency applications and medical students take great efforts to ensure they pass. Students often use third-party resources for a USMLE-focused approach to studying during their coursework. 2 It is important for endocrine course directors to better understand students’ perceptions of de novo course assessment questions and address gaps. This study aimed to improve perceived attitudes on the relevance of course quiz questions to endocrine content on Step 1 based on reduced satisfaction from student evaluations from the prior year’s course. Methods: This study was conducted at a private medical school in the NYC metro area. Study participants were second year medical students enrolled in the Endocrine Systems course. Participation was voluntary. The course had a total of 12 no-stakes quizzes, 7 of which were modified to include additional USMLE style questions; the remaining quizzes were left unchanged. A single-item questionnaire was included at the end of each quiz as follows: “Do you feel the questions in this assessment were similar in style and scope to your Step 1 study materials?” The answer choices were “Yes” or “No” with free text for feedback. Results: Each participating student completed the questionnaire once with 155 total responses. Pearson’s Chi-squared test showed a significant difference in students’ responses to the questionnaire (p<0.001) with 100% of modified quizzes perceived to be similar to USMLE content while only 70% of unmodified quizzes received the same rating. Compared to the prior academic year, the rating of assessments improved from 3.3 to 3.7 on a 4-point scale. The overall percentage of student satisfaction on assessments improved from 91.2% to 98.9%. Qualitative feedback included comments such as “This was the first course where I felt the assessments were very much in the style of Step 1 questions.” Conclusions: This data suggests a positive relationship between quiz modification to include endocrine focused USMLE style questions and favorable responses in students’ attitudes towards the relevance of these quiz questions to Step 1. As medical education continues to evolve, this study shows a pathway for endocrine course directors to adapt their assessments to improve student satisfaction and preparedness for standardized exams. Sources: 1.“USMLE Step 1 Transition to Pass/Fail Only Score Reporting.” USMLE, www.usmle.org/usmle-step-1-transition-passfail-only-score-reporting. 2.Halperin, Scott J., et al. (2024). Are medical school curricula adapting with their students? A survey on how medical students study and how it relates to USMLE Step 1 scores. Journal of Medical Education and Curricular Development, vol. 11 Presentation: Sunday, July 13, 2025