Edithe J. Miller was born in 1926 in Wilkes-Barre, Pennsylvania. She studied biology at Bucknell University before completing medical studies at the Medical College of Pennsylvania from 1948 to 1952. She married Samuel Levit, a fellow physician, in 1953 and they had two sons.[2]
Levit began her career at Philadelphia General Hospital, where she trained initially as an endocrinologist.[1][2] In 1957, she took on a role at the hospital as director of medical education.[2] She joined the board of the National Board of Medical Examiners (NBME) in 1961, where she played a large role in developing "patient management problems" (PMPs) to test medical students' competence in clinical observation and decision-making in a standardized way.[2] PMPs were written tests that replaced more subjective assessments for granting medical licenses, which involved observation of candidates during face-to-face encounters with real patients.[1] In 1977, Levit became president of the NBME, making her the first female president and chief executive officer of a national medical association in the United States.[2] She advocated for further reforms in medical examination, including computerized testing and the use of audiovisual aids and simulations.[1] She was elected to the National Academy of Medicine in 1978.
Levit retired from the NBME in 1986. She died on October 18, 2006, from lung cancer.[1]