Officials of the United States Medical Licensing Examination (USMLE) have just invalidated exam scores for up to 1,000 Nepalese medical students seeking licensure in the U.S. Exam officials accuse those Nepalese medical students of exam cheating, threatening everything for which the students have worked. If you are among those Nepalese medical students accused of USMLE exam cheating, retain the Lento Law Firm's premier Student Defense Team. Call 888.535.3686 or use our contact form now to tell us about your case.

USMLE Invalidates Nepalese Students' Exam Scores

In a public announcement, USMLE officials have disclosed “a pattern of anomalous exam performance” among medical students from Nepal. Because of the “highly irregular patterns” among Nepal exam scores, USMLE officials have reportedly invalidated scores of the entire group of examinees, as many as 1,000 in number.

The announcement indicates that exam officials are reaching out to individual examinees, notifying them of the concern and that they must retake one or more validation exams. But other reports indicate that USMLE officials have invalidated the scores of all medical students from Nepal, affecting Step 1, Step 2, and Step 3 exam scores.

USMLE Accuses Nepalese Students of Cheating

While USMLE officials do not say exactly what were those “highly irregular patterns” among Nepalese medical student exam scores, officials indicate that the patterns suggest “prior unauthorized access to secure exam content.” In other words, the USMLE accuses Nepalese medical students of cheating on the exam.

The invalidated exam scores obviously mean significant delays and additional time, trouble, and expense for candidates retaking the exam. But the cheating accusations could have their own far-reaching effect on residency placement and other professional opportunities and advantages. Nepalese medical graduates may take years to recover from the fallout.

Defending USMLE Cheating Charges

USMLE officials acknowledge in their public announcement that they look for “unusual score patterns or variations, and other information that could raise questions about the validity of an examinee's results.” Efforts to catch cheaters are natural and appropriate. But USMLE officials should not be invalidating exam scores of hard-working Nepalese medical students who earned passing scores while having nothing to do with cheating.

USMLE officials owe medical students taking the exam fair notice of any cheating charges and a fair opportunity to rebut those charges. Don't let USMLE officials taint your reputation, record, and career with unfair and unsupported cheating accusations. Let our Student Defense Team help you:

• obtain detailed notice of the specific cheating accusations;
• obtain and review any evidence of cheating;
• invoke USMLE hearing procedures to challenge the charges;
• identify, acquire, and present your exonerating evidence;
• appeal any invalidation or other adverse results; and
• communicate with residency site officials and others.

Premier Medical Student Defense

If you are among the Nepalese medical students facing invalidated USMLE scores, promptly retain the Lento Law Firm's premier Student Defense Team. Do not delay. Call 888.535.3686 or use our contact form now to tell us about your case.