Surpass

Surpass is the NBME Item Authoring tool. It provides editing, collaboration, organization, and media management for item submission and review. For details on item writing standards, please reference Constructing Written Test Questions for the Basic and Clinical Sciences (the Gold Book) on the NBME Publications page at nbme.org.

Getting started

Before working in Surpass, download and install the latest version of the Chrome browser. Surpass performs best in Chrome and you might experience issues using Surpass in another browser.

Log in to Surpass

Access item authoring and review applications from the NBME Connect Portal (connect.nbme.org).

Initial login

If this is your first time using Surpass, update the following browser settings to ensure best performance.

  1. Open any item.

  2. Without highlighting any text, left-click your mouse cursor in the Name field, then right-click to open the browser menu.

  3. Select Spell check, then deselect both Use basic spell check and Use enhanced spell check so that neither option has a checkmark.

    If you encounter problems with pop-ups while using applications in Chrome, try adjusting the settings to allow pop-ups for the site. Make sure that you are logged into the application (Surpass, Nuxeo, etc.) when following the instructions in the link.

About this guide

The menu to the right lists the various topics and procedures to help you complete assigned tasks. Click on a topic to navigate between topics. You can also find information anywhere on the NBME Learning Portal using the Search bar.

Help us to continue to improve the Surpass user experience: Give us your feedback and ideas today!