NBME/USMLE Defense for Nebraska Medical Students and Graduates

You made a good choice to pursue a medical practice in Nebraska. The state not only has a diverse and attractive landscape with stately cities and settled towns but also a strong need for additional physicians, especially in primary care in rural areas. As many as two-thirds of rural healthcare critical access clinics are in danger of closing due to declining physician numbers. The Nebraska State Board of Medical Examiners, along with its supporting Department of Health and Human Services, wants you to apply for its medical license. You won't gain that license, though, unless you first resolve your medical licensing exam issues. Your best move is to retain the Lento Law Firm's premier Student Defense Team for the skilled and experienced representation you need. Our attorneys are available in Omaha, Lincoln, Bellevue, Grand Island, Kearney, Fremont, Norfolk, Hastings, Columbus, Papillon, North Platte, La Vista, Scottsbluff, South Sioux City, Beatrice, and across the rest of Nebraska to assist you. Call 888.535.3686 or use our contact form now for your best, earliest, and most efficient medical licensing outcome.

Nebraska Medical Practice Rewards

Only you know how much you've put into your laudable ambition for a Nebraska medical practice. Doubtless, your investment is substantial, surely enough to expect substantial rewards. Don't underestimate those rewards when determining how earnestly to address your medical licensing exam issues. Nebraska is not only a beautiful state with a good economy and friendly population. It is also a prime location for a thriving medical practice, supported by fine healthcare systems including the leading Nebraska Medical Center, Bryan East Campus, Methodist Hospital of Nebraska Methodist Health System, CHI Health Creighton University Medical Center - Bergan Mercy, Children's Nebraska f/k/a Childrens Hospital & Medical Center, Great Plains Health, Regional West Medical Center, CHI Health Lakeside f/k/a Alegent Health Lakeside Hospital, and Mary Lanning Memorial Hospital. The University of Nebraska College of Medicine and Creighton University School of Medicine enable you to pursue your professional development through teaching, research, and continuing education opportunities. Get our skilled and experienced help resolving your medical licensing exam issues to preserve and pursue those abundant rewards.

Nebraska Medical Licensing Authority

You must deal not only with your medical licensing exam organization, whether the USMLE, NBME, COMLEX-USA, or another organization, but also with the Nebraska State Board of Medical Examiners and the state's Department of Health and Human Services. Section 38-2010 of the Nebraska Medicine and Surgery Practice Act establishes the state's Board of Medicine and Surgery, also known as the State Board of Medical Examiners, to guide the Department of Health and Human Services in licensing physicians for practice in the state. Section 38-121 of the Nebraska Uniform Credentialing Act requires every physician intending to practice medicine in the state to first obtain a license from the Department of Health and Human Services. Section 38-1,114 of the Uniform Credentialing Act further authorizes the Department of Health and Human Services to obtain a court injunction against the unlicensed practice of medicine, enforceable with contempt sanctions, including fines and incarceration. Section 38-1,118 further defines unlicensed medical practice as a Class III misdemeanor, elevated to a Class II misdemeanor for a second or subsequent violation, punishable by up to one year in jail and a $1,000 fine. Don't risk sanctions. Get our help resolving your medical licensing exam issues so that you can obtain your Nebraska medical license.

Nebraska Medical License Application Requirements

Section 38-2026 of the Nebraska Medicine and Surgery Practice Act requires that you apply for a medical license on the forms from the Nebraska State Board of Medical Examiners and the state Department of Health and Human Supply. Section 38-130 of the Nebraska Uniform Credentialing Act and the following sections expand and detail the medical license application requirements. Those requirements include authorizing criminal history background checks, paying fees, providing required documentation, and otherwise attesting to the accuracy of the submitted information. Take your Nebraska Department of Health and Human Services license application most seriously. The Department may construe any errors, omissions, or inconsistencies in your application and documentation as credential fraud to deny you a medical license. Be especially sensitive to accurate disclosure of your medical licensing exam issues. Let us help you update and correct your application before facing credential fraud charges.

Nebraska Medical Licensure General Requirements

Section 38-2026 of the Nebraska Medicine and Surgery Practice Act states the general requirements for a medical license. Those requirements include that you submit proof that you graduated from an approved medical school program, completed one year of medical residency, and passed an approved medical licensing exam. As suggested in the prior section, the Nebraska Uniform Credentialing Act may impose other requirements like the criminal history check. Depending on your program and circumstances, you may also have to show lawful U.S. residency, English language proficiency, good moral character, and adequate mental and physical fitness for medical practice. We can help you with issues arising out of any of these requirements, including your medical licensing exam issues.

Nebraska Medical Licensing Exam Requirements

Section 38-2026 of the Nebraska Medicine and Surgery Practice Act does not specify the medical licensing exam you must pass for licensure. Instead, it defers to the Nebraska State Board of Medical Examiners' adoption of an appropriate administrative rule. The State Board has done so in Chapter 172, Rule 88.003, which recognizes the NBME, USMLE, FLEX, and other exams by special approval. Rule 88.003 also states passing score requirements. The Nebraska State Board of Medical Examiners limits USMLE step exam attempts to four tries on each of the three step exams, further requiring that a candidate complete all steps within ten years of a first exam administration. Note the State Board's consistency with the USMLE's own four attempts limit.

Exam Issues Affecting Nebraska Medical Licensure

Every license applicant's situation is unique in some respects. However, common medical licensing exam issues also tend to land within certain categories. Our attorneys know how to address issues within the several common categories, as the category tends to determine the procedures we will follow, the proofs we will muster, the arguments we will make, and the outcomes we will pursue, advocate, and negotiate. The following sections address these six common categories for medical licensing exam issues, along with how our attorneys will likely be able to help you with each issue:

1. qualifying for the exam;
2. passing exam steps within attempt limits;
3. defending charges alleging exam cheating;
4. requalifying for the exam after anomalous exam performance;
5. gaining the release of an invalidated exam score or
6. proving extenuating circumstances for extra exam attempts.

Nebraska State Board Exam Qualification Issues

Qualifying to take the USMLE, NBME, FLEX, or other medical licensing exam shouldn't be hard, but too often is. Qualifying for your medical licensing exam can seem as arduous as qualifying for Nebraska State Board of Medical Examiners licensure, with similarly strict requirements and rigorous scrutiny of your exam application materials. The USMLE's Bulletin of Information states the organization's several exam qualification requirements that could trigger the following issues:

• problems with inaccurate or inconsistent application statements;
• problems with incomplete or unauthenticated documentation;
• differences between application statements and documentation;
• problems with medical school academic or disciplinary charges;
• problems with your medical school's accreditation;
• problems in your medical residency program;
• problems with unresolved criminal charges or criminal convictions; or
• problems documenting citizenship or lawful residency status.

How We Address Exam Qualification Issues:

Resolving exam qualification issues often involve our attorneys communicating and advocating with medical school deans, registrars, and other officials or with medical residency directors and other officials. We can usually get the prompt and serious attention of recordkeepers and administrators to update, correct, authenticate, and supply the required documentation. Sometimes, the issues are not with the documentation but with unresolved underlying issues reflected in the medical school transcript or medical residency records. In those instances, we can invoke school or residency procedures to address and resolve those issues so that the program can update and supply appropriate records. We can do likewise with court clerks as to criminal history checks and other court records, as well as immigration officials as to citizenship and lawful residency status, all while keeping the Nebraska State Board of Medical Examiners informed to keep your license file open.

Nebraska State Board Exam Attempt Limits

As indicated above, Nebraska State Board of Medical Examiners limits USMLE exam attempts to four attempts for each of the three step exams. Those limits are consistent with the USMLE's own four attempts limit for each of its three-step exams. Failing a medical licensing step exam is not the end of the world. Many medical students and graduates do so. Indeed, making one or more attempts with only preliminary preparation can help an examinee gauge how much preparation to complete and help save time on a prompt step exam passage with little time invested. But don't run up against exam attempt limits. Exhausting your exam attempts can lead to the Nebraska State Board of Medical Examiners' denial of your license application.

How We Address Exam Attempt Limits:

All is not lost if you exceed the limit of your medical licensing exam attempts. If your issue is with the USMLE's four attempts limit, then we can help you invoke the USMLE's extenuating circumstances policy to attempt to gain an additional attempt. The extenuating circumstances policy requires that you promptly show an emergency that interfered with your scheduled exam or caused you to abandon an attempt. Those emergencies typically involve the examinee's sudden illness or traumatic injury or the serious illness or injury of a close family member. Other circumstances, though, can also qualify for extra-attempt relief. Don't make a weak showing. Let us help you acquire the documentation and present the information and arguments to compel relief. We can do likewise if your issue is with the Nebraska State Board of Medical Examiners' identical four attempts limit.

Nebraska State Board Irregular Behavior Issues

The next common medical licensing exam issue that can arise thwarting your Nebraska medical licensure involves cheating allegations. The USMLE and other exam organizations typically depend on test center staff and proctors to closely monitor exam administration for signs of suspected cheating. The USMLE and other exam organizations also generally impose a duty on examinees to report observations of suspected cheating by other examinees. Indeed, failure to do so may implicate an examinee in a cheating scandal. The USMLE's Bulletin of Information describes its irregular behavior policy under which exam officials have the authority to disqualify an examinee for trying to “compromise the validity, integrity, or security” of one of its step exams. Disqualification for irregular behavior would generally result in notice to the Nebraska State Board of Medical Examiners and denial of the accused examinee's license application. Irregular behavior can include:

• refusing to cooperate with a cheating investigation;
• asking another to act as an impostor to take your exam;
• ignoring exam proctor instructions during an exam;
• helping other examinees during an exam;
• asking for help from other examinees during an exam;
• using unauthorized notes or devices during an exam;
• seeking confidential exam questions to prepare for an exam;
• offering confidential exam questions to others for sale or use;
• trying to register for an exam when ineligible;
• removing exam materials from the exam room or
• telling licensing officials you qualified or passed when you didn't.

How We Address Irregular Behavior Charges:

Your exam organization will have some form of procedure, either formal or informal, for our attorneys to invoke to present your defense to cheating charges. The USMLE, for example, has an Office of the Secretariat to administer an adjudication process. We can request a formal hearing under that procedure so that we can present your exonerating testimony and other defense evidence while challenging the evidence against you. We may be able to show that the complaining witness or witnesses didn't have any first-hand knowledge or observation of your cheating, relied instead on hearsay, or were mistaken as to your conduct or the identity of the suspicious person whom they observed. We can also ensure that the Nebraska State Board of Medical Examiners knows that we are helping you contest the cheating charges with a likelihood of prevailing to keep your license application open.

Nebraska State Board Anomalous Performance Issues

Analysis of your exam answers can lead to other problems. If, for example, you scored very low on the exam, failed to answer sections of the exam, marked all the same answer options as if not caring about your exam passage, or otherwise didn't answer like a legitimate examinee making an earnest attempt to pass, exam officials can bar you from further exam attempts. The USMLE maintains an anomalous performance policy authorizing USMLE officials to impose exactly that sanction. Their implication would be either that you lacked the medical education to pass the exam or that you attended for nefarious purposes, like assisting another examinee or stealing confidential exam questions. Your exam disqualification would soon reach the Nebraska State Board of Medical Examiners, causing it to reject your license application.

How We Address Exam Anomalous Performance:

Once again, you are not without hope if receiving USMLE notice of your anomalous performance and exam disqualification. While the USMLE notice will not alert you to any formal adjudication process, because of the confidentiality of exam security analysis methods, we may well be able to open informal channels of communication through which to present your defense. Your defense may involve showing that you misunderstood exam instructions, were unfamiliar with exam format, mistakenly skipped exam sections, or suffered an unanticipated medication reaction and mental lapse. Whatever circumstances led to your anomalous performance, we can present that evidence, along with evidence of your strong medical school academics, sufficient to pass the exam on another attempt. We can also keep the Nebraska State Board of Medical Examiners informed of our progress in gaining you a retake opportunity.

Nebraska State Board Invalidated Score Issues

Analysis of your exam scores and answer pattern may lead to another problem, this one having to do with a very high score rather than an anomalously low score. The USMLE maintains an invalidated score policy that it applies whenever an examinee's score is so high as to be beyond the normal distribution, indicating an undue advantage such as prior access to the exam. If your exam answers were instead identical to the answers of other examinees at the same test center site, with all of you obtaining an unusually high score, then once again, the USMLE may apply its invalidated score policy to withhold your passing score and disqualify you from further attempts at the exam. The Nebraska State Board of Medical Examiners would accordingly deny your license application.

How We Address Invalidated Exam Scores:

Our approach to an invalidated exam score would be to invoke formal procedures or informal channels to present evidence of your unusual capability for doing very well on standardized exams. Your very high MCAT score, your high medical school exam scores, and your good character and discipline for productive studies, as your medical school professors attest, can all be evidence disproving the inference of cheating, drawn solely from your very high score. What's not to like about a very high score when supported by this kind of exonerating evidence? Isn't that the point of an exam, to do as well as you can? Even if we cannot gain the release of your invalidated score, we may be able to gain another attempt to repeat your strong passing performance under appropriate monitoring and controls.

Nebraska State Board Response to Exam Issues

Time may be wasted with your Nebraska State Board of Medical Examiners application while you are attempting to resolve your medical licensing exam issues. The greatest value of our representation is that we promptly communicate with State Board officials so that they keep your license application open. Our appearance on your behalf should convince the State Board to do so, especially given the skills, reputation, and relationships of our highly qualified attorneys. Keeping your license application file open can save you months or even a year or more in reapplying after your application's premature rejection. Don't let the State Board act before it needs to do so and should do so. Let us work to convince the State Board that a prompt and favorable resolution of your exam issues is coming.

Nebraska Administrative Review Procedures

Section 38-185 of the Nebraska Uniform Credentialing Act requires the Department of Health and Human Services to notify an applicant within thirty days of its denial of a medical license application. The same Section 38-185 requires the Department and State Board of Medical Examiners to follow the procedural protections of the Nebraska Administrative Procedure Act regarding an applicant's challenge to a license denial, expressly including the applicant's right to a hearing to contest the denial. These protections satisfy the mandates of constitutional due process, protecting your property and liberty interests in your Nebraska medical license and practice. Our attorneys know how to invoke your hearing right to present your best defense case before the required impartial decision maker. If you have already lost your hearing, we can take the available appeals to overturn an erroneous license denial, especially if, in the meantime, we have resolved your medical licensing exam issues. If you have already lost your appeals, we may be able to obtain judicial review and reversal. Let us help you exhaust all avenues for relief until we achieve your best possible licensing outcome.

Premier Nebraska Medical Licensing Exam Defense

The Lento Law Firm's premier Student Defense Team is available across Nebraska to help you resolve your medical licensing exam issues to gain a Nebraska State Board of Medical Examiners license. Our attorneys represent hundreds of medical students and graduates, as well as students and graduates in other professional programs across Nebraska and nationwide. Call 888.535.3686 or use our contact form now to retain our highly qualified attorneys.