Examinations accepted by the Washington state medical quality assurance commission:

(1) The commission adopts the United States Medical Licensing Examination (USMLE) as the examination accepted by the commission.

(2) The minimal passing scores for each component of any approved examination combination shall be a score of seventy-five as defined by the examining authority.

(3) Applicants who do not pass Step 3 of the USMLE examination after three sittings within seven years after passing the first examination, either Step 1 or Step 2, or acceptable combination, shall demonstrate evidence satisfactory to the commission of having completed a remedial or refresher medical course approved by the commission prior to being permitted to sit for the examination again. Applicants who do not pass after the fourth sitting may not sit for another examination without completing an additional year of postgraduate training or satisfying any other conditions specified by the commission.

(4) To be eligible for USMLE Step 3, the applicant must:

(a) Have obtained the M.D. degree;

(b) Have successfully completed the Federation Licensure Examination (FLEX) Component 1 or both National Boards Examination (NBE) Parts I and II or USMLE Steps 1 and 2 or NBE Part I and USMLE Step 2 or Step 1 and NBE Part II; and

(c) Be certified by the ECFMG if a graduate of an international medical school, or have successfully completed a fifth pathway program; and postgraduate training year in a program of graduate medical education accredited by the Accreditation Council for Graduate Medical Education.