NBME meaning in Community ?

The National Board of Medical Examiners (NBME), founded in 1915, is a United States non-profit which develops and manages assessments of health care professionals. Known for its role in developing the United States Medical Licensing Examination (USMLE) in partnership with the Federation of State Medical Boards (FSMB), USMLE examinations for medical students and residents are used by medical licensing authorities in the U.S. to help determine qualifications to grant and recognize medical licenses. NBME also creates assessments and materials that are used by medical students, medical educators, practicing physicians, and for state testing of physicians already holding licenses.

NBME's stated mission is to "protect the health of the public through state of the art assessment of health professionals" and emphasizes that "while NBME's mission is centered on assessment of physicians, this mission encompasses the spectrum of health professionals along the continuum of education, training and practice and includes research in evaluation as well as development of assessment instruments".NBME is headquartered on and adjacent to the University City Science Center research campus in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania.

During COVID-19 pandemic and George Floyd Protests, the medical community criticized NBME's refusal to accelerate USMLE Step 1 score reporting to pass/fail before 2022 and called for an emergency committee (that included student representatives) who could address these issues in a timely manner without financial or other conflict of interests.

Beginning mid-March 2020, testing centers operated by Prometric were closed based on local health and safety guidelines due to the COVID-19 pandemic. Prometric center administrations for NBME-developed assessments such as USMLE, Health Professionals, and NBME Subject Examinations were suspended completely for several months. USMLE waived fees associated with extending testing eligibility periods and changing testing locations.

Prometric resumed test administration for "essential services" clients at reduced capacity, which included NBME assessments, in May 2020. The medical community criticized Prometric for the mishandling of testing centers operations during the pandemic, creating "chaos," further "disadvantages," "harm," "bias" and "inequity." Prometric issued an apology to NBME for mishandling communication with students around exam scheduling during the pandemic.