Terms of Use and Practice Disclaimer

1. Educational Use Only

CCSworld is a practice and study tool for the Computer-based Case Simulations (“CCS”) portion of the United States Medical Licensing Examination Step 3. The Service provides simulated patient cases, ordering interfaces, and rubric-based scoring for training purposes only.

The Service is not a clinical decision support tool. Nothing presented in the Service constitutes medical advice. Cases, orders, rubrics, and feedback are educational approximations and must not be used to diagnose, treat, or manage any actual patient.

2. No Affiliation

CCSworld is an independent product. It is not affiliated with, endorsed by, sponsored by, or connected to the National Board of Medical Examiners (NBME), the Federation of State Medical Boards (FSMB), the United States Medical Licensing Examination (USMLE), or any other testing or credentialing body. Any references to Step 3 or CCS are descriptive only.

3. No Performance Guarantee

Use of the Service does not guarantee any specific outcome on Step 3, CCS, any licensing exam, residency milestone, or clinical assessment. Case content, scoring rubrics, and order dictionaries are designed to approximate the real exam interface and content but may differ from the actual examination in coverage, weighting, or behavior.

4. Accuracy and Errors

CCSworld LLC makes reasonable efforts to ensure case content is clinically accurate but does not warrant that cases, rubrics, order options, or feedback are free from errors, omissions, or out-of-date information. Clinical guidelines and standards of care change. Users are responsible for verifying clinical content against current authoritative sources before applying it in any real-world setting.

5. No Protected Health Information

You may not enter, paste, or upload any real patient information into the Service, including names, identifiers, medical record numbers, dates of birth, or any other Protected Health Information as defined under HIPAA or analogous laws. The Service is not designed or authorized to receive, store, or process PHI. Any submission of PHI is at your own risk and in violation of these terms.

6. Eligibility

You must be at least 18 years old and a medical professional, medical trainee, or person with a bona fide educational interest in graduate medical education to use the Service. By accepting these terms you represent that you meet these criteria.

7. Account and Data

You agree to provide accurate registration information and to keep your account credentials confidential. You are responsible for activity that occurs under your account. The Service collects account, usage, and performance data necessary to operate the Service, deliver feedback, and improve case content. Details are described in the Privacy Policy.

8. Acceptable Use

You agree not to (a) copy, scrape, or redistribute case content, rubrics, or order dictionaries, (b) reverse-engineer or attempt to extract underlying scoring logic for redistribution, (c) share account access with any other person, (d) use the Service to harass any person or upload unlawful content, or (e) interfere with the integrity or availability of the Service.

9. Intellectual Property

All case content, rubrics, order dictionaries, scoring engine output, software, branding, and other materials made available through the Service are the property of CCSworld LLC or its licensors and are protected by applicable intellectual property laws. You receive a personal, non-transferable, revocable license to access the Service for your own educational use only.

10. Service Provided “As Is”

The Service is provided on an “as is” and “as available” basis without warranties of any kind, whether express, implied, statutory, or otherwise, including warranties of merchantability, fitness for a particular purpose, accuracy, non-infringement, and uninterrupted availability. CCSworld LLC does not warrant that the Service will be error-free, secure, or continuously available.

11. Limitation of Liability

To the maximum extent permitted by law, CCSworld LLC and its owners, officers, employees, contractors, and affiliates will not be liable for any indirect, incidental, special, consequential, exemplary, or punitive damages, or for any loss of data, profits, opportunities, exam outcomes, professional standing, or goodwill, arising out of or related to your use of or inability to use the Service. The total aggregate liability of CCSworld LLC for any claim relating to the Service is limited to the greater of (a) the amount you paid CCSworld LLC for the Service in the twelve months preceding the claim, or (b) one hundred United States dollars.

12. Indemnification

You agree to indemnify and hold harmless CCSworld LLC and its affiliates from any claim, demand, loss, or liability, including reasonable attorney fees, arising from your use of the Service, your violation of these terms, your violation of any law, or your violation of any third-party right.

13. Changes to Terms

CCSworld LLC may update these terms from time to time. Material changes will be communicated through the Service or by email to the address associated with your account. Continued use of the Service after an update constitutes acceptance of the revised terms. If you do not agree to revised terms, you must stop using the Service.

14. Termination

CCSworld LLC may suspend or terminate your access to the Service at any time, for any reason, with or without notice. Provisions relating to intellectual property, limitation of liability, indemnification, and governing law survive termination.

15. Governing Law and Disputes

These terms are governed by the laws of the State of New York, without regard to its conflict of laws principles. Any dispute arising out of or relating to the Service or these terms will be resolved in the state or federal courts located in Albany County, New York, and you consent to the personal jurisdiction of those courts.

16. Contact

Questions about these terms: ccsworldUSMLE@gmail.com.