NBME/USMLE Defense for Arkansas Medical Students and Graduates

Your choice of Arkansas as a place to commence your medical practice was a good choice. The state's beautiful mountains, rivers, plains, and woodlands, abundant wildlife and recreational opportunities, and many fine towns make for an attractive personal and family lifestyle. You will also undoubtedly find gainful medical employment and practice opportunities in the state. Arkansas is near the bottom of U.S. states in physicians per capita and has a significant doctor shortage. The Arkansas State Medical Board encourages you to apply for a license to join the ranks of respected Arkansas physicians providing skilled and much-needed healthcare services. But your NBME, USMLE, FLEX, or other medical licensing exam issues can substantially delay or even outright prevent your licensure, putting your medical practice at risk. Call 888.535.3686 or use our contact form now to retain the Lento Law Firm's premier Student Defense Team for the best possible outcome to your medical licensing exam issues. Our attorneys are available in Little Rock, Fayetteville, Fort Smith, Springdale, Jonesboro, Rogers, Conway, Bentonville, Pine Bluffs, Hot Springs, and across the rest of Arkansas for your strategic and effective representation.

Arkansas Medical Practice Rewards

Arkansas has more to offer an aspiring physician than scenic living in secure towns supported by a diverse economy. Arkansas also has a sophisticated healthcare system and facilities to support your continuing professional development and growing medical practice. The state's larger healthcare facilities and systems include Baptist Health Medical Center-Little Rock, UAMS Medical Center, CHI St. Vincent Infirmary Medical Center, Baptist Health-Fort Smith, St. Bernards Medical Center, Washington Regional Medical Center, Unity Health White County Medical Center, Mercy Hospital Fort Smith, Jefferson Regional Medical Center, and CHI St. Vincent Hot Springs. The University of Arkansas for Medical Sciences College of Medicine and Arkansas College of Osteopathic Medicine together offer you gainful research, networking, and continuing education opportunities. You won't lack a sophisticated and welcoming medical community. Let us help you meet and favorably resolve your medical licensing exam challenges so that you can enjoy these substantial rewards.

Arkansas Medical Licensing Authority

The Arkansas State Medical Board holds the keys to your professional future. Section 17-95-301 of Arkansas's Medical Practice Act establishes the Arkansas State Medical Board to govern the practice of medicine in the state. The Act's Section 17-95-303 authorizes the State Medical Board to examine all applicants for a medical license in the state. The Act's Section 17-95-401 expressly requires all physicians desiring to practice in the state to first obtain a license from the Arkansas State Medical Board. Section 17-95-402 makes it an Arkansas criminal misdemeanor to practice medicine without a license, punishable by no less than one month and up to eleven months in jail and a $500 fine. The Arkansas State Medical Board may also obtain a court injunction against your continued unlicensed medical practice, subjecting you to contempt sanctions, fines, and imprisonment for violations. Don't expect to practice without a license. Doing so may lead to denial of your license application and your future inability to obtain a license. Instead, let us help you resolve your medical licensing exam issues so that you can meet Arkansas medical license requirements.

Arkansas License Application Requirements

The first thing that you must do to obtain your Arkansas State Medical Board license is to complete the Board's license application process, requiring you to disclose your medical licensing exam status and issues. Section 17-95-403 of the Arkansas Medical Practice Act requires every person desiring a license to apply to the State Board on its forms, verifying the accuracy of your representations under oath. The oath requirement is to highlight your duty to avoid misrepresentations and misleading omissions that could constitute credential fraud, leading to the denial of your application. Credential fraud is grounds for both refusing you a license and later disciplining, suspending, and revoking a license that you obtained by subverting the application process. Your medical licensing exam issues create special risks of credential fraud charges. Let us review your license application and help you update and correct the application to accurately reflect the status of your medical licensing exam issues.

Arkansas Medical Licensure General Requirements

Section 17-95-403 of the Arkansas Medical Practice Act states the general qualifications for licensure. You must generally have graduated from a Council on Medical Education-approved medical school program, completed one year of postgraduate medical residency, and passed a medical licensing exam that the Arkansas State Medical Board has approved by administrative rule. You must also be at least age twenty-one and not have committed any of the many forms of unprofessional conduct listed under the Act's Section 17-95-409 as grounds for license discipline. Those grounds include not only credential fraud but also incompetence, substance abuse or addiction, confidentiality breaches, sexual misconduct, and mental or physical unfitness. Section 17-95-306 of the Arkansas Medical Practice Act further requires that you authorize a federal and state criminal background check for disqualifying convictions. We can help you with any issues arising under the above general requirements, in addition to your medical licensing exam issues.

Arkansas Medical Licensing Exam Requirements

While Section 17-95-403 of the Arkansas Medical Practice Act does not specify the medical licensing exam you must pass, the Arkansas State Medical Board has done so in its Administrative Rule No. 14. Rule No. 14 first recognizes the phasing out of the NBME and FLEX exams in favor of the USMLE exam. During that phase-out, the State Medical Board will accept all three exams or combinations of the exams. Otherwise, the State Medical Board considers the USMLE to be the primary required medical licensing exam. The State Medical Board also recognizes the COMLEX-USA for osteopathic physicians and the LMCC for students and graduates of Canadian medical schools. Rule No. 14 further imposes a three attempts limit for each USMLE step exam, which is one fewer attempts than the USMLE's own four attempts limit. Beware the lower Arkansas State Medical Board attempts limit.

Arkansas Medical Licensing Exam Issues

You've seen the Arkansas State Medical Board's licensing exam requirements above. Now consider the issues that those requirements can trigger and how our attorneys can help you address those issues. Your medical licensing exam issues likely fall into one of the following categories of common medical licensing exam issues:

• meeting USMLE exam qualifications;
• passing all USMLE exam steps without exceeding attempt limits;
• allegations of cheating on the USMLE exam;
• disqualification after anomalous exam performance;
• disqualification after an invalidated exam score; or
• extenuating circumstances interfering with an exam attempt.

USMLE officials enforce different policies and offer different procedures to resolve issues in each of the above categories. Each type of issue also requires our attorneys to pursue different actions and present different defenses. Avoid working with unqualified local criminal defense counsel or an unqualified civil litigation attorney. The laws, rules, and procedures are all different. Let our highly qualified attorneys represent you strategically and effectively. The following sections address each of the above categories.

Arkansas Licensing Exam Qualification Issues

The USMLE's Bulletin of Information lists the exam qualification requirements you must meet to be able to register for a specific scheduled exam. You've seen above the rigorous application process and many requirements for an Arkansas State Medical Board license. You face a similarly rigorous process to qualify to take the USMLE. Expect USMLE officials to scrutinize your exam application for credential fraud in the same way State Medical Board officials scrutinize your license application. Avoid any misrepresentations or misleading omissions. Carelessness with or anomalies in your USMLE application could trigger the following issues, causing the Arkansas State Medical Board to delay or deny your license application:

• inaccurate or inconsistent USMLE application statements;
• incomplete documentation;
• documentation reflecting unresolved academic progress or disciplinary issues;
• documentation without required certification, seal, attestation, or other authentication;
• contradictions or inconsistencies between your application statements and documentation;
• issues with your medical school's accreditation status;
• medical residency program dismissal, non-renewal, unprofessionalism, or disciplinary charges;
• criminal convictions or domestic violence restraining orders;
• records of mental or physical impairment or substance abuse, dependency, or addiction; or
• inadequate documentation of U.S. citizenship or lawful immigrant status.

How We Address Exam Qualification Issues:

If you have unresolved disciplinary charges or academic progress issues at your medical school, we can invoke the school's procedures for a hearing at which we can present your defense evidence to resolve those issues. We can do likewise if you face unprofessional charges or threats of non-renewal or dismissal from your residency program. If, instead, you have favorably resolved all issues, but your documentation does not show that resolution, then we can work with medical school deans and registrars and medical residency supervisors and directors for prompt correction of the erroneous documentation. Our attorneys can also work with court judges, clerks, and other administrators and with immigration officials to resolve issues involving court or citizenship records. Our attorneys can also communicate with Arkansas State Medical Board officials to ensure your license application remains open while we resolve your medical licensing exam issues.

Arkansas Medical Licensing Exam Attempt Limits

You may have readily qualified for your USMLE step exams but, instead, face issues passing each step exam within the attempt limits. We've already shown above that Arkansas State Medical Board Administrative Rule No. 14 mandates a three attempts limit for each USMLE step exam, even though the USMLE itself has a four attempts limit for each step exam. Medical students and graduates frequently fail step exams, especially with preliminary attempts used to gauge the amount of necessary preparation and adjust to exam format and conditions. But if you exhaust the State Medical Board attempts limit, you face rejection of your license application.

How We Address Exam Attempt Limits:

If you have exhausted the three attempts that the Arkansas State Medical Board permits you on one of the USMLE step exams, we can seek the State Medical Board's permission for a fourth attempt. Arkansas State Medical Board Administrative Rule No. 14 permits the Board to grant an extra attempt if you can show that a medical condition or other personal problem interfered with your attempt or attempts. The USMLE has a similar extenuating circumstances policy. Your showing, though, must be credible, documented, and convincing. Gaining an extra step exam attempt generally requires more than a simple letter or email saying what happened. We can help you make a detailed and documented showing of the condition you experienced, how it interfered with your exam attempt, and how you have corrected the condition and have a strong probability of passing with another attempt.

Arkansas Licensing Exam Irregular Behavior Issues

You may have had no problem qualifying for and passing the USMLE step exams. Your medical licensing exam issues may instead have to do with cheating charges. The USMLE maintains and enforces an irregular behavior policy to address cheating allegations. Under the policy, exam proctors, administrators, and fellow examinees have the duty to observe and report suspected cheating. Cheating allegations can come out of nowhere when others mistake your innocent intentions, words, and actions for suspicious behavior. Cheating allegations can also arise when someone misidentifies you as someone else who cheated or when someone alleges you cheated to cover up their own cheating or to retaliate against you. As to forms of cheating, the USMLE Bulletin of Information lists these examples:

• harassing, disobeying, offending, or obstructing an exam proctor or test center staff member;
• lying to an official investigating cheating charges or otherwise interfering with the investigation;
• offering an impostor to take your exam or offering to pose as an imposter to take someone else's exam;
• secretly assisting another examinee during an exam or secretly seeking help from another examinee;
• using unauthorized materials or devices during an exam;
• removing exam room materials or reproducing and sharing confidential exam questions outside the exam;
• misrepresenting that you passed the exam when you failed, didn't make an attempt, or used an impostor to pass; and
• disregarding your exam disqualification to attempt to take the exam again.

How We Address Irregular Behavior Charges:

If you face USMLE irregular behavior charges, we can invoke the USMLE Office of the Secretariat's adjudication process to help you defend and defeat the charges. The adjudication process enables us to present your exonerating evidence and evidence of your good moral character at a hearing before an impartial official. We can also challenge the allegations and any incriminating evidence, including testing the observations, understanding, interests, and credibility of the complaining witness or witnesses. We are also available to consult forensic witnesses if your allegations involve electronic systems, handwriting analysis, or other technical issues. At the same time that we pursue formal USMLE procedures toward dismissal of the charges, we can advocate and negotiate for alternative special relief to give you the opportunity to show that you can pass the USMLE step exams without any cheating. We can also keep Arkansas State Medical Board officials informed to keep your license file open.

Arkansas Anomalous Exam Performance Issues

USMLE officials have other ways to test the intentions and actions of examinees to ensure exam integrity and confidentiality. One of those other ways involves analysis of your exam answers and scores for anomalies that suggest you lacked the medical education to qualify for and pass the exam. If you had a very low score well below the normal distribution for low scores, skipped whole exam sections, gave the same answer option for all answers, or otherwise failed to make an earnest effort to pass the exam, USMLE officials can invoke the organization's anomalous performance policy to disqualify you from further attempts at the exam. Exam officials may also infer that you entered the exam room to record confidential questions or assist another examinee rather than to pass the exam. Disqualification for anomalous performance may lead the Arkansas State Medical Board to deny your license application.

How We Address Anomalous Exam Performance:

We have two primary ways to approach the defense of anomalous exam performance. We first show that you have the medical education, knowledge, and skills to pass the exam. We can do so using your medical school grades, medical school exam scores, and medical school class standing, together with attestations from your medical professors as to your diligence in and capacity for medical studies. We can also present your explanation for your very poor performance, whether a medical condition, medication reaction, technology failure, unfamiliarity with the exam format, technology problem, or misrecording correct answers in an incorrect form or pattern. The USMLE does not offer a formal adjudication process to challenge anomalous performance findings, but our attorneys know how to open informal channels for communication, advocacy, and negotiated relief. We can also keep Arkansas State Medical Board officials informed of our progress in regaining your qualification to make another attempt at your step exam.

Arkansas Invalidated Exam Score Issues

USMLE officials also analyze your exam score and responses for an extraordinarily high score, above the normal distribution of high scores, or for an answer pattern that mirrors the pattern of answers others at your test site gave. USMLE officials may infer from that analysis that you had prior access to exam questions and answers or that a group at your test center had that unfair advantage together. In that case, USMLE officials will apply the organization's invalidated score policy to withhold your passing score and disqualify you from further attempts at the exam. The Arkansas State Medical Board would then likely refuse your license application and close your file.

How We Address Invalidated Exam Scores:

The USMLE has no formal adjudication process to challenge invalidated exam scores. But our attorneys have the reputation, skill, and relationships to open informal channels of communication, to advocate and negotiate for relief on an appropriate presentation of your defense evidence. That evidence may include your very high MCAT score, medical school grades, and medical exam scores, showing your ability to ace standardized exams. It may also include attestations of your good character. We may be able to gain release of your withheld passing score or another opportunity to show your ability to readily pass the exam without an undue advantage.

Arkansas Medical Board Response to Exam Issues

As the above discussion suggests, one of your bigger challenges when medical licensing exam issues delay your license application is to convince the Arkansas State Medical Board to keep your file open. The State Medical Board follows routine procedures to review, process, and close files. Your medical licensing issues may linger long enough that State Medical Board officials will simply deny your application and close your file, even though you hope to favorably resolve your medical licensing issues. Our attorneys have the reputation and relationships to show State Medical Board officials that we are diligently pursuing the resolution of your exam issues so that those officials forgo their standard procedures and keep your file open. We may be able to save you months or even a year or more of reapplying for licensure and overcoming a prior license denial simply by convincing State Medical Board officials to keep your file open.

Arkansas Administrative Review Procedures

If the Arkansas State Medical Board has already closed your file and denied your license application, we can help you invoke the available procedures to challenge and reverse that decision. Arkansas State Medical Board Administrative Rule No. 1 assures physicians who desire to contest a State Medical Board decision of their right to a hearing. Rule No. 1 expressly incorporates the procedural protections of the state's Administrative Procedure Act. We know how to invoke those protections to ensure the best licensing outcome for you.

Premier Arkansas Medical Licensing Exam Defense

The Lento Law Firm's premier Student Defense Team is available across Arkansas to effectively address and resolve your medical licensing exam issues so that you can qualify for an Arkansas State Medical Board license. Our attorneys help hundreds of medical students and graduates, as well as students and graduates of other professional programs, across Arkansas and nationwide. Call 888.535.3686 or use our contact form now to retain our highly qualified attorney representation.