National Board of Medical Examiners

The Growth and Innovation unit includes the Office of Research which supports NBMEs research enterprise by coordinating NBMEs research efforts across the organization and ensuring that NBMEs research portfolio is consistent with institutional priorities. In addition to these defined programs of research and development, each program area and service unit is charged to carry on a program of research and development relevant to the work of the program or unit, for example, development of new item formats for USMLE, exploring relationships between prior measures and certifying exam performance for those we serve and developing new testing methods for those we serve. These research and development activities result in the publication of dozens of research reports in scientific journals and presentations at scientific meetings each year.The Office of Research is responsible for conducting research related to improving the quality and efficiency of NBME products, services, and procedures. It is also aimed at developing capabilities that allow NBME to expand its range of assessments both geographically and across the health professions. In addition to this work, the Office of Research provides non-routine technical support to other organizational divisions and subunits and conducts research to contribute to the field of measurement.This unit delivers information vital for planning strategy related to innovative assessments to meet stakeholder needs. They support conception and market testing of product ideas and the research to investigate and sustain products and services.On January 31, 2024, NBME completed the acquisition of the assets of MedVR Education (MedVR), a business segment of ELearning Design Center, LLC, based in South Lyon, Michigan. MedVR is an extended reality platform that offers both off-the-shelf and customized virtual reality simulation training solutions for patient care, critical care nursing skills, and health care management utilized by universities and healthcare institutions.The primary reasons for the acquisition included expanding NBME's capabilities in innovation and enhancing its portfolio of advanced educational technologies. Specifically, NBME acquired MedVR to leverage its leading technology in simulation-based learning to support NBMEs strategic objective of developing new tools and assessments that support learners throughout their medical education.

Custom Programs consist of a diverse portfolio of global customized assessment services and examination programs. The primary sources of revenue for Custom Programs are Health Profession Services, the Health and Wellness Coach Certifying Examination and the Post Licensure Assessment System. The Health Profession Services program provides comprehensive assessment, educational, consultative, and research services for healthcare organizations. During 2024, NBME's Health Profession Services worked with a variety of organizations to administer examinations for purposes of licensure and other evaluations of special competence for examination programs sponsored by health-related organizations. These organizations included allied health professional associations, members of the American Board of Medical Specialties, and medical societies. Examinations are administered worldwide, where applicable.NBME and the National Board for Health & Wellness Coaching collaborate to provide the Health and Wellness Coach Certifying Examination. The collaboration provides an opportunity to draw upon the unique capabilities of each organization to provide a high-quality assessment for health and wellness coaches. Exam content is developed by nationally recognized leaders in the field of health and wellness coaching and covers areas such as coaching structure and process, health and wellness, and ethics.The Post-Licensure Assessment System (PLAS) is a joint activity of NBME and the Federation of State Medical Boards (FSMB). PLAS comprises two programs: the Special Purpose Examination (SPEX) Program and the Assessment Center Program (ACP). SPEX is a one-day, multiple-choice examination of current knowledge requisite for the general, undifferentiated practice of medicine and is intended to be used for reasons of endorsement or reciprocity of licensure. The ACP provides comprehensive objective and personalized assessments of physicians for whom there is a question regarding clinical competence. Together, the PLAS programs have assessed physicians for reasons that range from endorsement of licensure to license reactivation after disciplinary action.Note: The expenses reflected for Custom Programs on Part III, line 4d do not include management and general expenses.