Announcement of an Exempt Purchase

Question banks and self-assessment exams for 2nd and 3rd year medical students for use in preparation for United States Medical Licensing Exams Step 1 and Step 2 required for graduation. The UWorld platform includes comprehensive question banks, detailed explanations, performance analytics, and practice assessments designed to improve learning outcomes and exam readiness for students and professionals.

This purchase is exempt from the usual selection processes of the Procurement Code because the procurement expenditure is for periodicals, books, subscriptions, database licenses, and other publications procured for use by a university library or academic department, except for expenditures related to procuring textbooks for student use or materials for resale or rental. (30 ILCS 500 / 1-13(b)(5)) These question banks are the closest to the style of Step 1 and Step 2CK exam questions on the United States Medical Licensing Exams, which students are required to pass both for graduation and licensing. Without these resources, students may not be as prepared to take these exams, possibly taking longer to graduate, thus affecting the physician work force, particularly of Illinois as UICOM graduates one-third of Illinois practicing physicians.