INTERNATIONAL

FOUNDATIONS OF
MEDICINE® (IFOM®)

2023 Candidate Brochure

What’s Inside
Information about IFOM Clinical and Basic Science
Examinations for Individual Examinees

NOTE: This brochure is intended for individuals who plan

to order an IFOM exam independent of a medical school
or other institution.

Information about institutional administrations of IFOM is

available at https://www.nbme.org/examinees/international-
foundation-medicine

June 2023

Copyright © 2022 NBME. All rights reserved

OVERVIEW
General Information and 2023 Test Schedule

This brochure contains procedural and policy information about the International Foundations of
Medicine® (IFOM®) Clinical Science Examination (CSE) and Basic Science Examination (BSE) for
individuals planning to take the exam independently (i.e., not under the auspices of a medical school or
other institution). Please familiarize yourself with all aspects of this brochure and note that while every
attempt has been made to provide accurate information, the IFOM examination program may change or
revise policies and procedures after the release of this brochure. Notice of such changes will be posted
on the webpage International Foundations of Medicine (IFOM) Exams | NBME. Please check this website
for the most current information about program policies and procedures.

The materials used in the IFOM exams are owned and copyrighted by the National Board of Medical
Examiners (NBME). Any reproduction by any means or dissemination of exam materials, in whole or in
part, without the express written authorization of the NBME is strictly prohibited. NBME reserves the right
to pursue its rights and remedies to the fullest extent permitted by law without further notice to you,
including taking legal action.

Both the IFOM CSE and BSE will be available for individuals to take as a computer-based test (CBT)
during the following administration periods in 2023:

2023 Exam Administration Windows 2023 Exam Registration Periods

March 20 - May 26 January 3- January 31

August 21- November 3 July 5 - July 31

Test Delivery, Format, and Length

The IFOM Examination is administered using computer-based testing (CBT) via a network of NBME-
approved Prometric Test Centers worldwide. To locate a Prometric Test Center, see
www.prometric.com/test-takers/search/MSS and choose “Locate a Test Center.”

The 4.5-hour test session for each examination includes:

A 15-minute tutorial

160 questions in a multiple-choice format, presented in two 2-hour blocks of 80 questions each

A maximum of 15 minutes of total break time available for use between the test sections

An optional post-test survey

During the defined time to complete the items in each block, you may answer the items in any order,
review your responses, and change answers. After you exit the exam block, or when time expires, you
can no longer review test items or change answers in that block.

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PRACTICING FOR IFOM
Practice Tests are available on the IFOM webpage “Preparing for the Exam”:
https://www.nbme.org/examinees/international-foundation-medicine#preparing-for-the-exam. These free
tests will help familiarize you with the testing software and IFOM test question formats.

The practice tests are not intended to assist you in assessing your readiness to sit for the exam. For that
purpose, refer to the IFOM Clinical Science Self-Assessment; you can read more about this
assessment here: NBME Self-Assessments | NBME. The IFOM self-assessment costs US$35.00 and
enables you to assess your knowledge prior to taking the IFOM CSE (there is no self-assessment for the
IFOM BSE). A performance report and score interpretation guide is provided upon completion of the self-
assessment.

APPLYING FOR IFOM

Eligibility Requirements

To be eligible, you must be a currently enrolled medical student or medical school graduate (see
“Eligibility Status Verification,” below).

Purchasing the IFOM Exam

Log onto the MyNBMESM Examinee Portal (www.MyNBME.org). (If you do not yet have an account, you
can create one on that page.) Purchase your exam, then download and complete the IFOM Status
Verification Form and send the form to your medical school. You will be notified by email of the outcome
of your status verification.

Fees and Fee Policy

The IFOM CSE fee is $300 and the IFOM BSE fee is $200, payable via VISA or MasterCard; payment
must be made in U.S. funds. The fee is nonrefundable for examinees whose Status Verification Form has
not been approved as eligible by the Educational Commission for Foreign Medical Graduates (ECFMG)
by the deadline printed on the form.

Examinees whose Status Verification form is not received at the ECFMG by the deadline, or who request
cancellation of their exam five or more days before their exam appointment, may be eligible for a refund
or registration credit equal to their exam fee.

If you do not take the examination during the testing window for which you were approved, you must
submit a new application and pay the full fee again to take the exam during a subsequent window. If there
are extenuating circumstances that make it impossible for you to take the exam once you have submitted
your order and paid your fee, contact IFOM customer support at [email protected].

NOTE: Applications and other requests for services will not be processed if it is determined that
doing so would violate any applicable laws or regulations.

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ELIGIBILITY STATUS VERIFICATION
Only currently enrolled medical students or medical school graduates are eligible to take the IFOM CSE
or BSE. All applicants must have their credentials verified by ECFMG using the process described in
“Status Verification Instructions” below.

Currently enrolled medical students must have their credentials verified each time an IFOM
exam order is placed.

Medical school graduates only need to be verified once (the first time they apply after
graduation).

Unless you have previously been verified as eligible for an IFOM exam as a medical school graduate,
your credentials must be verified by the ECFMG at the time of your application for the IFOM exam,
regardless of whether ECFMG has previously verified your credentials in connection with your application
for ECFMG Certification and/or the United States Medical Licensing Examination ® (USMLE®).

You will be unable to sit for the exam if your medical school fails to submit the required paperwork in time.
No scheduling permits will be issued to examinees who are not verified or who are verified as ineligible.

Status Verification Instructions

After you have purchased your exam as described above, the IFOM Status Verification Form will be
available for download by logging into the MyNBME Examinee Portal (www.MyNBME.org), clicking the
“My Exams” menu, then selecting the IFOM exam from the list of exams on that page.

Print a copy of the IFOM Status Verification Form from the order confirmation page. (If a portion
of the form is cut off on the print-out, adjust the margins under "Page Setup" in your browser.)

Sign and date the form and either scan and email it or mail it to your medical school to have it
certified by an authorized official.

The medical school official must print, sign, and date the form and provide his/her name, official
title, and the institution name. The official must affix the institution’s seal in the designated section
of the form.

Note: Each medical school has been requested to provide ECFMG with a list of the officials
authorized to certify verification forms. If your form is not certified by an authorized official, it will
not be accepted. Contact your medical school to determine the officials authorized by your medical
school for this purpose.

The form must be emailed to ECFMG as a scanned attachment directly from the office of the
medical school official who certified the form. Do not attempt to email the form on behalf of your
school. If ECFMG, in its judgment, determines that the form may not have been sent directly from
the office of the medical school official who certified it, the form will not be accepted.

Deadline: The IFOM Status Verification Form must be received by ECFMG by the deadline
printed on the form.

Please contact [email protected] if you have any questions regarding the status verification
process.

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YOUR SCHEDULING PERMIT
Your Scheduling Permit will be emailed to you after you have been deemed eligible by your medical
school and ECFMG; the permit will also be available online by:

logging into the MyNBME Examinee Portal (www.MyNBME.org),

clicking “My Exams” on the menu,

selecting the IFOM exam within the list.

Verify the information on your Scheduling Permit before scheduling your appointment. Your Scheduling
Permit includes:

Your Full Name

Examination Name

Scheduling Number

Candidate Identification Number (CIN)

You must either print and take your Scheduling Permit to the test center, or present it
electronically (e.g., via smartphone). You are strongly encouraged to print your Scheduling Permit at
least several days in advance of your scheduled testing appointment to avoid any problems accessing or
printing your permit on your scheduled test date.

Scheduling Your Test

You must have your Scheduling Permit before you contact Prometric to schedule a testing appointment.
Appointments are assigned on a "first-come, first-served" basis; therefore, you should contact Prometric
to schedule a testing appointment as soon as possible after you access your Scheduling Permit. You will
be required to provide information found only on your Scheduling Permit. When you schedule your
appointment, you will receive the following specific information:

the test date and time

the address and telephone number of the Prometric Test Center (PTC) where you will test

your Prometric Confirmation Number(s)

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 Important Notes Regarding the Scheduling Permit:

You will need to present government-issued identification (ID) with your permit when arriving
at the Prometric Test Center. Your name as it appears on your Scheduling Permit must
exactly match the name on your form of ID (see also the “Admission to the Exam” section
below). The Prometric Test Center Administrator must be able to determine that your name
as it appears on both the Scheduling Permit and the ID match. Therefore, though it is not
required, it is recommended that the name on your ID appear in the Latin alphabet. NBME is
not responsible for an examinee’s inability to be admitted to the Test Center if the Test
Center Administrator cannot confirm that the names on the two documents match.

If the name listed on your Scheduling Permit is not correct, login to the MyNBME Examinee
Portal (www.MyNBME.org) and submit a name change immediately. You will not be able to
take the test if the name on your permit does not match your ID.

Your scheduling permit incudes your Scheduling Number and your Candidate
Identification Number (CIN). Your Scheduling Number is needed when you contact
Prometric to schedule a test appointment. Your Candidate Identification Number (CIN),
which is your private key, is needed to start your exam on test day and to resume testing
after breaks. Prometric does not have access to your CIN.

After you schedule your testing appointment, print a confirmation of your appointment from the Prometric
website (www.prometric.com). Scheduling a testing appointment for a specific date at a PTC is no
guarantee that the scheduled test time or location will be available. If the PTC at which you are scheduled
becomes unavailable after you have scheduled your appointment, Prometric will attempt to notify you in
advance of your scheduled testing appointment to schedule a different time and/or center. However, on
rare occasions, rescheduling your appointment for a different time or center may occur at the last minute .
It is strongly recommended that you confirm your testing appointment one week before your test date.

Rescheduling Your Test

If you are unable to keep your testing appointment at the scheduled time and location, you may
reschedule by following the instructions for contacting Prometric on your Scheduling Permit. You will need
to enter your Prometric Confirmation Number when you cancel and reschedule. Your rescheduled test
date must fall within the assigned testing window.

A fee may be charged if you change your appointment, depending upon how much notice you provide
when making the change. The fee, if applicable, is due at the time you change your appointment.
However, the date that you change your appointment, using Eastern Time in the United States, will
determine whether you pay a fee and the amount of this fee:

If you change your appointment 31 or more calendar days before (but not including) the first day
of your scheduled test date, there is no fee.

If you change your appointment fewer than 31 calendar days but more than 5 calendar days
before (but not including) the first day of your scheduled test date, the fee is $30 USD.

If you change your appointment 5 or fewer calendar days before (but not including) the first day of
your scheduled test date, the fee is $47.00 USD.

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 NOTE: If you cancel your appointment without rescheduling, there is no guarantee that testing
appointments during the testing window will be available at a given test center, or at any test center,
when you attempt to reschedule. If you do not reschedule within the assigned testing window,
you must submit a new application and payment to take the exam.

CANCELLING YOUR IFOM EXAM ORDER

If you need to cancel your order, contact [email protected]. Your request should include your
name, the e-mail address that you used to place your order, and your IFOM registration number.

If you have already scheduled a testing appointment and you need to cancel your order, you must
request the cancellation five or more calendar days before your scheduled appointment. This
request must be submitted to the NBME; cancelling your appointment at Prometric will not
cancel your IFOM order. You must contact the NBME to have the order cancelled and any
refund you are eligible to receive arranged.

Requests for cancellations received fewer than five calendar days prior to your scheduled testing
appointment cannot be honored.

NOTE: If your Status Verification Form is rejected by the ECFMG, and a new form is not submitted
and approved by the deadline, your order will be cancelled, and you will not receive a refund of your
exam fees.

TESTING
Testing Regulations and Rules of Conduct

Test center staff monitor all testing sessions. You must follow instructions of test center staff throughout
the examination. Violation of the rules of conduct (below) may result in non-reporting or revoking of
scores and a bar from future exams administered by NBME.

Test center staff is not authorized to answer questions from examinees regarding examination content,
testing software, or scoring. Test center staff are also not authorized to answer inquiries regarding
registration or retesting.

If staff observes you violating test administration rules during an examination, the center staff will not
necessarily tell you of the observation at the time of the examination. Test center staff are required to
report such incidents to the IFOM program; each report is fully investigated.

Personal Items

Please read and follow the rules below regarding personal possessions. Unauthorized possession of
personal items while in the secure areas of the testing center violates the rules of conduct.

REGARDING EARPLUGS: You may bring soft-foam, cordless earplugs into the testing room. However,
they must be out of the packaging and ready for inspection by test center staff during check-in. Earplugs
must be left at the workstation during all breaks.

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Unauthorized items include, but are not limited to:

mechanical or electronic devices, such as cellular telephones, personal digital assistants (PDAs),
calculators, watches of any type, electronic paging devices, recording or filming devices, radios;

outerwear, such as coats, jackets, head wear, gloves;

book bags, backpacks, handbags, briefcases, wallets;

books, notes, written materials, or scratch paper;

food, candy, gum, or beverages.

If you bring personal items to the test center, you must store them in a designated locker outside the
secure testing area. Note that the storage facilities are small, and all stored mechanical or electronic
devices must be turned off. Personal items and their contents may be subject to inspection. Any materials
that reasonably appear to be reproductions of any examination materials will be confiscated. Making
notes of any kind during an examination, except on the laminated writing surfaces provided by the test
center for this purpose is not permitted. Removal of the writing surfaces from the secure testing area is
prohibited.

Rules of Conduct

When you apply to take the IFOM CSE or BSE, you agree to the following Rules of Conduct:

1. You are the person named on the Scheduling Permit for the examination.

2. You will not give, receive, or obtain any form of unauthorized assistance during the examination
or during breaks.

3. You will not have any formulas, study materials, notes, papers, or electronic devices of any kind
in your possession while you are in the secure areas of the center.

4. You will place in a locker all personal belongings, including cellular telephones, watches, pagers,
personal digital assistants, formulas, study materials, notes, papers, pens/pencils, and your purse
or wallet, before you enter the testing room.

5. During the examination, you will not leave your testing station for breaks unless the break screen
is visible on your monitor. It will be considered a violation of the Rules of Conduct if you indicate
on the center log that your break screen is visible when it is not.

6. During testing, you may use a telephone or other communication device while outside the secure
testing area and only during an authorized break.

7. You will not remove materials in any form (written, printed, recorded, or any other type) from the
test center.

8. All examination materials remain the property of NBME, and you will maintain the confidentiality
of the materials. You will not reproduce or attempt to reproduce examination materials, in whole
or in part, through memorization or any other means. Also, you will not provide information
relating to examination content that may give or attempt to give unfair advantage to individuals
who may be taking the examination. This includes Internet postings regarding examination
content and/or answers.

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If you violate these Rules of Conduct, you may be directed to leave the test center before you complete
the examination. If there is any reasonable basis to conclude that you have violated any test
administration rule, including these Rules of Conduct, actions may be taken against you without further
notice, including but not limited to legal action and/or barring you from taking NBME examinations in the
future.

Admission to the Exam

When you arrive at the test center, you must present your Scheduling Permit and the required unexpired
identification described on your Scheduling Permit.

Acceptable forms of unexpired identification include the following:

passport,

driver's license with photograph,

national identity card,

other form of unexpired, government-issued identification.

Your identification must contain both your signature and photograph. If it contains your photograph
but not your signature, you can use a second form of unexpired identification that contains your signature,
such as an employee identification card or a credit card to supplement your photo-bearing, government-
issued identification.

Your name as it appears on your Scheduling Permit must match the name on your form of identification
(ID) exactly. The Prometric Test Center Administrator must be able to determine that your name as it
appears on both the Scheduling Permit and the ID match. Therefore, though it is not required, it is
recommended that the name on your ID appear in the Latin alphabet. NBME is not responsible for an
examinee’s inability to be admitted to the Test Center if the Test Center Administrator cannot confirm that
the names on the two documents match.

If the name listed on your Scheduling Permit is misspelled or differs from your name as it appears on your
identification, login to the MyNBME Examinee Portal (www.MyNBME.org) and submit a name change
immediately. You will not be able to take the test if the name on your permit does not match your ID.
Name changes or corrections cannot be made within 7 business days of your scheduled testing
appointment.

NOTE: You will not be admitted to the testing room without presenting either a printed or electronic
copy of your permit.

Test Centers and Testing Conditions

Locations of Prometric Test Centers (PTCs) at which the IFOM exams are delivered can be found at the
Prometric website (www.prometric.com/test-takers/search/MSS). These centers provide the resources
necessary for secure administration, including video and audio monitoring and recording and use of
digital cameras to record the identity of examinees.

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You should arrive at the PTC 30 minutes before your scheduled testing appointment on your testing day.
If you arrive after your appointment time, you may not be admitted. If you arrive more than 30 minutes
after your scheduled testing appointment, you WILL NOT be admitted.

Upon arrival at the test center, you must present the required identification, sign a test center log, be
photographed, and store your personal belongings in your assigned locker. You will be asked to empty
and turn your pockets inside out prior to entry into the testing room to confirm that you have no prohibited
items. You will be asked to repeat this process prior to every entry into the testing room after a break.

Test center staff will collect your Scheduling Permit. You will be instructed to write your name and
Candidate Identification Number (CIN) on one of the laminated writing surfaces provided. Your
Scheduling Permit will be retained at the Test Center Administrator's station. You may request access to
the permit during the examination if it becomes necessary for you to rewrite the CIN on the laminated
writing surface.

In addition to the laminated writing surfaces, you will be provided with dry-erase markers and an eraser.
Test center staff will escort you to your assigned testing station and provide brief instructions on use of
the computer equipment. You must enter your CIN to start the examination, which begins with a brief
tutorial prior to the first test block.

Taking the Exam

The maximum testing time for both the IFOM BSE and CSE is 4.5 hours, not including the optional end-
of-exam survey. The exam session begins with a tutorial, for which up to 15 minutes is allotted. The exam
is divided into two blocks of test questions, each of which can take a maximum of 2 hours. There is also
an optional 15-minute break between blocks. After the test blocks (if time permits), an optional survey
about your testing experience will appear.

If you experience a computer problem during the test, notify test center staff immediately. The testing
software is designed to allow the test to restart at the point it was interrupted. In most cases, your test can
be restarted at the point of interruption with no loss of testing time. However, it is possible that a technical
problem may occur that does not permit you to complete your examination. In the rare event that this
occurs, please send a written description of the incident to [email protected].

The IFOM program makes every effort to ensure that your registration information is properly processed,
and that the examination is properly prepared, administered, and scored. In the unlikely event that an
error occurs in the preparation, processing, administration, or scoring of your examination or in the
reporting of your score, the program will make reasonable efforts to correct the error, if possible, or permit
you either to retest at no additional fee or to receive a refund of the examination fee. These are the
exclusive remedies available to examinees for errors in the registration process; in preparing, processing,
or administering exams; or in determining or reporting scores.

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SCORING AND SCORE REPORTING
The IFOM total test scores are reported using an equated percent correct score that represents mastery
of the content domain assessed by the examination. It is calculated as the percentage of items in the
total content domain that would be answered correctly based on an examinee's proficiency level. Scores
are placed on a classic percent correct metric (0-100%) to facilitate interpretation. IFOM scores are
equated across test administrations and are statistically adjusted for variations in test form difficulty.
Consequently, these scores can be used to compare and track performance on the IFOM test over time.

In addition to the total test score, examinees receive a detailed profile comparing individual performance
to reference group performance in the disciplines, tasks, and organ systems covered in the examination.

IFOM results will be reported within 4 weeks of your test date. You should schedule your test date
at least 4 weeks before you need your score.

Once your score report is available, you will receive an e-mail with retrieval instructions. Score reports
are available for download from your MyNBME account for two calendar years after release. We strongly
recommend downloading and saving your score report during the 24 months when it is available.
Once the link to the download expires, you will no longer be able to download your score reports from the
website.

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