Executive Director of the Clinical Skills Evaluation Collaboration (CSEC), National Board of Medical Examiners (NBME) and Educational Commision for Foreign Medical Graduates (ECFMG)

The National Board of Medical Examiners (NBME) and Educational Commission for Foreign Medical Graduates (ECFMG) invite applications and nominations for the Executive Director of the Clinical Skills Evaluation Collaboration (CSEC). This is an exceptional opportunity for a distinguished and collaborative leader to be the conduit for strategy and change for CSEC.

CSEC is a highly complex endeavor, both from an organizational and technical viewpoint. CSEC administers the United States Medical Licensing Examination (USMLE) Step 2 Clinical Skills exam(Step 2 CS) to about 35,000 examinees annually. Its revenue budget exceeds $47 million. CSEC is not a separate organization corporately, nor is it a subsidiary or a joint venture. Rather, it is the collaborative program of ECFMG and NBME, which together have more than 150 years of experience in assessment and in service to patients, healthcare professionals, and the medical education and regulatory communities. The full- and part-time CSEC staff are located in the headquarters in Philadelphia and in six testing centers in five cities. There are 22 full time NBME staff and 690 full and part time ECFMG staff. The Executive Director of CSEC partners with USMLE leadership to oversee administration of the USMLE Step 2 CS examination across all six CSEC centers.

Based in Philadelphia, the next Executive Director will be tasked with crafting a vision for where the clinical skills examination can go in partnership with the leaders of the USMLE, NBME and ECFMG. The successful candidate will draw a road map for systematic changes to Step 2 CS while making sure they are in synch with the greater strategy to advance USMLE. The Executive Director will navigate the pathways towards decision making in order to lead transformation while also understanding the cost structures and complexities of running and maintaining a high-stakes examination and to delegate proper authority to a large group of talented staff who are responsible for the throughput and administration of the exam.

Duties include managing governance, fostering cross-organizational communication, leading innovation and change, ensuring operational excellence, overseeing a modernization initiative that will overhaul technological systems, interacting with health professions, attending conferences, and representing the Collaboration and its stakeholders. The Executive Director will play a key role in the national conversation about how this assessment is seen as a key element of physician licensure, and to ensure quality and security of Step 2 CS. The Executive Director has a dual reporting structure to ECFMG’s Executive Vice President and Chief Administrative Officer and NBME’s lead of the USMLE program. In addition, the Executive Director has a dotted line to the CEO’s of NBME and ECFMG and is part of the leadership team that oversees operations and development of CSEC. The Executive Director should be knowledgeable and sensitive to the needs of the parent organizations. 

A medical degree and a clear sense of the nuances of clinical skills assessment are required. The Executive Director will have a positive track record leading through change, will have comfort and ease around technology, and will be politically savvy to know how to apply improvements and enhancements to the exam in order to meet the cost/value proposition of the Step 2 CS exam.

For more information, view the position description on Career Connect: https://careerconnect.aamc.org/job/executive-director/49455350/

ECFMG and NBME have retained Isaacson, Miller, a national search firm, to assist the search advisory committee in its efforts. All correspondence, including applications, nominations, and general inquiries can be submitted in confidence at imsearch.com/7070. Applications should include a letter of interest, CV or résumé, and a separate list of references. Electronic correspondence to Jamie Sands, John Muckle and Ashton Lange through Isaacson, Miller’s website is strongly encouraged.

ECFMG & NBME are Equal Opportunity Employers.