Frequently Asked Questions

When you start your trial, you pick a plan (Full Monthly Access or QBank Only), create an account, and enter your payment details. Your subscription is created, but you aren’t charged for the first 7 days.

During those 7 days you get full, unmetered access to everything in the plan you selected — question bank, CCS Runner (if you chose Full Access), analytics, flashcards, calculators, cheat sheets, and more.

Your card is charged automatically after your 7-day free period ends, and then monthly after that, unless you cancel before the trial ends. If you cancel any time during the first 7 days, you will not be charged.

Yes. The trial is the first 7 days of a subscription — you’ll enter a valid card at sign-up, get full access for 7 days at no charge, and then be billed automatically unless you cancel before the trial ends.

Yes. Any questions you answer, CCS cases you run, analytics, flags, and flashcards created during your trial stay with your account when your subscription converts to a paid month.

MDSteps supports USMLE Step 1, Step 2 CK, and Step 3 (including CCS). You’ll choose your current Step when you create your account so blocks, analytics, and guidance are tailored to where you are in your prep.

The first 7 days are free. On day 8, your first monthly charge is processed automatically using the card you provided at sign-up, and your access continues without interruption. Your plan then renews every month until you cancel.

Yes. Both Full Monthly Access and QBank-Only plans are month-to-month subscriptions that auto-renew. You can cancel anytime from your billing/settings page, and you’ll keep access through the end of your current paid month.

Payments are processed securely via Stripe. MDSteps never stores your full card number on our servers — Stripe tokenizes your details and we use that token to manage renewals.

During the 7-day trial: you can cancel anytime before the trial ends and you won’t be charged.

After billing starts: when you cancel, auto-renew is turned off. You keep full access until the end of the current billing period, and your question history and analytics are preserved in case you return later.

We back our platform with a Pass Guarantee policy. Exact eligibility, required documentation, and how to claim are outlined in the policy page. If you think you qualify or have a billing concern, reach out to support and we’ll review your situation and next steps.

The CCS Runner is MDSteps’s live, browser-based simulator for USMLE Step 3 Computer-based Case Simulations (CCS). You place timed orders, advance the clock, watch vitals and labs respond to your management in real time, and then review what changed outcomes after the case.

Cases cover common Step 3 scenarios like sepsis, DKA, PE, ACS, postpartum hemorrhage, asthma, and more, with dynamic physiology, imaging, consults, and outcome feedback built in.

Yes — if you start your 7-day trial on the Full Monthly Access plan, you get full access to the Step 3 CCS Runner and all CCS cases during the trial. QBank-Only plans do not include CCS, so if CCS practice is important for you, choose the Full Access trial.

The runner uses timed decisions, order processing delays, and physiology-inspired rules so that fluids, pressors, insulin, oxygen, antibiotics, and anticoagulation all change vitals and labs in plausible ways. Imaging and consults return on a clock, and your score emphasizes early stabilization (ABCs), appropriate diagnostics, and safe disposition — just like on the actual Step 3 CCS exam.

Scoring rewards time-sensitive, guideline-aligned care: early airway and hemodynamic stabilization, timely antibiotics for sepsis, appropriate test selection, and safe disposition. Delayed or unsafe decisions trigger deductions, and each case ends with a timeline and teaching points so you can see exactly what helped or hurt your score.

Yes. You can pause the timer in a CCS case when you need to step away. Analytics still track your total case time so practice remains realistic, but you’re not forced to finish every case in one sitting.

Instead of fixed blocks, the Adaptive QBank adjusts difficulty, topic mix, and resurfacing based on your performance. It targets weak systems, mixes in review at the right intervals, and uses why-right/why-wrong explanations so every block improves your reasoning — not just your recall.

Yes. Content is reviewed and updated on an ongoing basis to stay aligned with current guidelines and exam trends. User feedback also helps us refine stems, clarify rationales, and tune difficulty.

The integrated medical library contains thousands of concise, clinically-reviewed articles on mechanisms, algorithms, and decision rules. Depth-on-Demand™ links these to your questions, letting you skim a quick “fast take” when you’re confident or dive deeper into full pathophysiology and reasoning when you need a true reset on a topic.

Yes. MDSteps can automatically turn missed and flagged questions into flashcards and decks. You can review them inside the platform or export them (for example as a TSV file) for use in spaced-repetition tools like Anki.

Depth-on-Demand™ is MDSteps’s layered explanation system. Every question starts with a short Fast Take—a one-paragraph answer and key rule—then lets you optionally open deeper layers for schematics, why-wrong rationales, and full question dissections with mechanisms, mnemonics, and exam-day traps. You control how much detail you see on every question.

Traditional explanations are usually one long block of text you have to read top-to-bottom. Depth-on-Demand™ breaks each explanation into layers:

• Layer 1 – Fast Take: quick summary of the answer and core rule.
• Layer 2 – Schematics & why-wrong: visual schematics and targeted distractor rationales.
• Layer 3 – Question dissection: step-by-step mechanisms, memory hooks, and exam-day traps.

That means you can skim confident topics quickly, and only expand into deeper reasoning when you actually need it—cutting review time while preserving depth.

The Fast Take is meant for questions where you already understand the concept. It confirms the correct answer and rule in a sentence or two—perfect when you just need a quick check. If a topic feels shaky, or you keep missing similar questions, that’s your cue to open the schematic and full dissection layers to rebuild the pattern more deeply.

A simple way to use Depth-on-Demand™:

1. During review, start with the Fast Take. If you can explain the rule out loud, move on.
2. Open schematics + why-wrong when two answer choices feel similar and you need clear rule-in/rule-out cues.
3. Use full dissections for repeated weak spots (e.g., shock types, OB triage, renal path) and add your own notes or memory hooks.
4. Protect your time. Confident topics stay at Layer 1; only shaky ones get Layers 2–3. That keeps you doing more questions instead of endlessly scrolling explanations.

Absolutely. You can log in from desktop, laptop, tablet, or mobile, and your progress and analytics sync to your account so you can pick up where you left off on any device.

MDSteps requires an internet connection for QBank blocks, CCS cases, and analytics to work correctly. You can keep personal notes offline, but questions and cases themselves are delivered online.

If you cancel and later reactivate with the same account, your question history, CCS runs, decks, and analytics are still there so you can continue where you left off. If you want your data fully removed instead, you can request deletion through support.

The IMG Resource Hub is a guided workspace built for international medical graduates. It helps you navigate the ECFMG/MyIntealth pathway—from account setup and document verification to eligibility periods and Prometric scheduling—with:

• a step-by-step MyIntealth checklist with plain-language guidance,
• a document vault that tracks status (requested • sent • received • verified),
• an eligibility period planner and seat-availability nudges,
• smart reminders for deadlines and key communications.

The goal is to keep admin organized so you can focus your energy on studying.

No. You always own and control your official MyIntealth/ECFMG accounts. MDSteps never creates or manages those accounts for you. We provide checklists, guidance, and reminders so you complete requirements on time—always following the latest instructions from the official bodies.

Only the official verification body can perform primary-source credential verification. MDSteps helps you prepare and track what you submit—organizing diplomas, transcripts, and confirmations—so verification proceeds as smoothly as possible, but we do not verify or approve documents ourselves.

The IMG hub lets you mark tasks as complete, upload confirmations, and store key dates (eligibility windows, document deadlines, exam dates). Based on those, we:

• remind you about upcoming deadlines and windows,
• nudge you to check Prometric seat availability at the right time,
• update your to-dos when you reschedule or change plans.

You still schedule/reschedule directly through official systems—we just help you stay ahead of the logistics.

Yes. MDSteps is fully web-based and supports IMGs globally. Timelines and reminders adapt to your selected time zone, so your eligibility windows, deadlines, and exam dates are shown in a way that makes sense for where you live.

The IMG Hub is integrated with the rest of MDSteps. Alongside your MyIntealth checklist and document tracker, you can use the USMLE QBank, CCS Runner (on eligible plans), analytics, and Depth-on-Demand™ explanations. That way, your study plan and your administrative tasks stay in one workflow instead of living in separate tools.

Our support team is available by email to help with account issues, billing questions, or anything in the platform. You’ll also find a Getting Started guide, support portal, and resource articles linked from the main site and footer.

If you spot an error or outdated guideline, please flag it. You can reach out via the contact page or support email with the question ID or case name, and we’ll review and fix it. Feedback directly improves the QBank and CCS library for everyone.