<P> While the USMLE Step 1 has traditionally been taken after students complete foundational sciences and before core clinical clerkships, in recent years a number of medical schools have reformed their medical school curriculum, moving to having students take the USMLE Step 1 after core clinical clerkships or preliminary clinical training . Top allopathic medical schools such as Harvard Medical School, Weill Cornell Medical College, Perelman School of Medicine at the University of Pennsylvania, Vagelos College of Physicians and Surgeons at Columbia University, Stanford School of Medicine, University of Michigan, Yale School of Medicine, and New York University School of Medicine have instituted these changes, requiring completion of the exam in the third year of medical school . </P> <P> The exam is currently an eight - hour computer - based test taken in a single - day, composed of seven 40 - question sections with a maximum 280 multiple - choice questions . One hour is provided for each section, allotting an average of a minute and thirty seconds to answer each question . Between test sections, the test taker is allotted a cumulative 45 minutes (during the test day) for personal breaks . (There is a 15 - minute tutorial at the beginning of the exam, which the test - taker can choose to skip and have that time added to break time .) If the taker finishes any section before the allotted one hour time limit, the unused time is added to the break time total . The test is administered at any of several Prometric computer testing sites . </P> <P> Step 1 is designed to test the knowledge learned during the basic science years of medical school as applied in the form of clinical vignettes . This includes anatomy, behavioral sciences, biochemistry, microbiology, pathology, pharmacology, and physiology, as well as to interdisciplinary areas including genetics, aging, immunology, nutrition, and molecular and cell biology . Epidemiology, medical ethics and questions on empathy are also emphasized . Each exam is dynamically generated for each test taker; while the general proportion of questions derived from a particular subject is the same, some test takers report that certain subjects are either emphasized or deemphasized . </P> <P> Currently, students receive a three - digit score following sitting for the Step 1 examination . In 1999, the USMLE phased out the use of a percentile - based system in favor of a three - digit and two - digit scaled scoring system . In October 2011, two - digit scaled scores were no longer reported to any parties besides the examinees . In April 2013, the two - digit score was eliminated completely from the score report . </P>

What topics are on the usmle step 1
find me the text answering this question