Institutional Access Allows Medical Schools to Provide Testing Tools to Students taking Board Exams

NEW YORK, N.Y., May 14, 2009 — McGraw-Hill Professional, a leading global provider of information resources for the scientific and medical communities, has relaunched USMLEasy (http://www.usmleasy.com) as the first online test preparation resource from McGraw-Hill that offers institutional access. This innovative testing website allows medical students to extensively prepare for the United States Medical Licensing Examination (USMLE) in the areas of Step 1 Basic Science, Step 2 Clinical Knowledge, and Step 3 Application of Medical Clinical Knowledge. USMLEasy offers nearly 7,000 questions derived from McGraw-Hill’s leading series of test prep books, such as PreTestTM and Lange Q&A™, including all the disciplines and organ systems covered on the exam.

Continuing the innovations begun with McGraw-Hill’s renowned online Access medical and scientific resources, USMLEasy provides targeted remediation based on test results—links to selected readings from AccessMedicine's Lange Library—providing the knowledge students need to review their most challenging exam subjects. Users at an institution that subscribes to McGraw-Hill’s AccessMedicine can access remedial content seamlessly from these titles directly. The testing environment of USMLEasy offers multiple options for the test taker, including Practice Mode, Exam Mode, and a USMLE Simulation that recreates the USMLE computer testing interface ("FREDv2").

“It is crucial for us to meet the needs of today’s medical students and the institutions in which they learn and study. This relaunch of USMLEasy was designed to do just that, with all new content and up-to-date questions, as well an upgrade to the simulation mode that recreates the newest version of the testing interface students will encounter on their actual USMLE exams,” says Scott Grillo, vice president and medical publisher, McGraw-Hill Professional. “Additionally, by offering USMLEasy to institutions, we can now provide this important test-prep service to a vastly expanded audience.”

To encourage a competitive spirit, USMLEasy provides users with a robust performance profile that allows result tracking by topic and test scores over time and allows users to compare their scores to others using USMLEasy, including test-takers at the users’ specific institutions. All USMLEasy questions are reviewed by recent test-takers to ensure they reflect the very latest style and content of the exams.

USMLEasy includes customization features that allow users to create exams sorted by discipline, organ system or subspecialty, or to create a set of randomly selected questions; time their tests or practice at their own pace; take tests composed of unseen questions or re-take tests composed of questions that were previously answered incorrectly.

About USMLEasy and AccessMedicine
Tougher questions mean easier boards. USMLEasy delivers exactly what students need to prepare for the USMLE Step 1, Step 2 CK, and Step 3. With thousands of questions covering all the disciplines and organ systems covered on the exam, as well as powerful customization features, users can focus on the topics they need to master. AccessMedicine is an innovative online service that provides researchers, physicians, medical students, and all health professionals with more than 50 digital medical titles, updated content, thousands of illustrations, a self-assessment feature, a comprehensive search platform, and the ability to download content to a mobile device. More information on these and other products can be found at www.usmleasy.com and www.accessmedicine.com.

About McGraw-Hill Professional
McGraw-Hill Professional is a unit of McGraw-Hill Education, a leading global provider of instructional, assessment and reference solutions that empower professionals and students of all ages. McGraw-Hill Education, a division of The McGraw-Hill Companies (NYSE: MHP), has offices in 33 countries and publishes in more than 65 languages. Additional information is available at www.mhprofessional.com. 
                                
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Contact:
Tom Stanton, Director
Communications, McGraw-Hill Education
+1-212-907-3214
tom_stanton@mcgraw-hill.com