diff --git a/environments/aci_bench/aci_bench/aci_bench.py b/environments/aci_bench/aci_bench/aci_bench.py
index 4f7346db..57e3b6ad 100644
--- a/environments/aci_bench/aci_bench/aci_bench.py
+++ b/environments/aci_bench/aci_bench/aci_bench.py
@@ -5,6 +5,7 @@
 from datasets.utils.logging import disable_progress_bar
 from aci_bench.judge_prompts import JUDGE_DIMENSIONS, JUDGE_OUTPUT_JSON, JUDGE_TEMPLATE
 from medarc_verifiers.parsers import JSONParser
+from medarc_verifiers.parsers.xml_parser import XMLParser
 from medarc_verifiers.prompts import XML_SYSTEM_PROMPT, AnswerFormat
 from medarc_verifiers.judging import MultiJudge, MultiJudgeRubric
 from medarc_verifiers.rewards import normalize_helm_reward
@@ -83,7 +84,7 @@ def load_environment(
     if answer_format == AnswerFormat.XML:
         system_prompt = system_prompt or XML_SYSTEM_PROMPT
         parser_fields = ["answer"]
-        parser = vf.XMLParser(fields=parser_fields, answer_field="answer")
+        parser = XMLParser(fields=parser_fields, answer_field="answer")
     elif answer_format == AnswerFormat.BOXED:
         system_prompt = system_prompt or BOXED_SYSTEM_PROMPT
         parser = vf.Parser(extract_fn=extract_boxed_answer)
diff --git a/environments/head_qa/head_qa.py b/environments/head_qa/head_qa.py
index e17b7937..471450da 100644
--- a/environments/head_qa/head_qa.py
+++ b/environments/head_qa/head_qa.py
@@ -29,6 +29,7 @@
 
 import verifiers as vf
 from datasets import load_dataset
+from medarc_verifiers.parsers.xml_parser import XMLParser
 from medarc_verifiers.prompts import THINK_XML_SYSTEM_PROMPT, XML_SYSTEM_PROMPT, AnswerFormat
 from medarc_verifiers.rewards.multiple_choice_accuracy import multiple_choice_accuracy
 from medarc_verifiers.utils.randomize_multiple_choice import randomize_multiple_choice
@@ -135,7 +136,7 @@ def _map_example(example: dict[str, Any]) -> dict[str, Any] | None:
     if answer_format == AnswerFormat.XML:
         system_prompt = system_prompt or (THINK_XML_SYSTEM_PROMPT if use_think else XML_SYSTEM_PROMPT)
         parser_fields = ["think", "answer"] if use_think else ["answer"]
-        parser = vf.XMLParser(fields=parser_fields, answer_field="answer")
+        parser = XMLParser(fields=parser_fields, answer_field="answer")
     elif answer_format == AnswerFormat.BOXED:
         system_prompt = system_prompt or (THINK_BOXED_SYSTEM_PROMPT if use_think else BOXED_SYSTEM_PROMPT)
         parser = vf.ThinkParser(extract_boxed_answer) if use_think else vf.Parser(extract_boxed_answer)
diff --git a/environments/med_mcqa/med_mcqa.py b/environments/med_mcqa/med_mcqa.py
index 28392a3c..a7e642bc 100644
--- a/environments/med_mcqa/med_mcqa.py
+++ b/environments/med_mcqa/med_mcqa.py
@@ -23,6 +23,7 @@
 import verifiers as vf
 from datasets import load_dataset
 from datasets.utils.logging import disable_progress_bar
+from medarc_verifiers.parsers.xml_parser import XMLParser
 from medarc_verifiers.prompts import THINK_XML_SYSTEM_PROMPT, XML_SYSTEM_PROMPT, AnswerFormat
 from medarc_verifiers.rewards.multiple_choice_accuracy import multiple_choice_accuracy
 from medarc_verifiers.utils.randomize_multiple_choice import randomize_multiple_choice
@@ -125,7 +126,7 @@ def _map_example(example: dict[str, Any]) -> dict[str, Any] | None:
     if answer_format == AnswerFormat.XML:
         system_prompt = system_prompt or (THINK_XML_SYSTEM_PROMPT if use_think else XML_SYSTEM_PROMPT)
         parser_fields = ["think", "answer"] if use_think else ["answer"]
-        parser = vf.XMLParser(fields=parser_fields, answer_field="answer")
+        parser = XMLParser(fields=parser_fields, answer_field="answer")
     elif answer_format == AnswerFormat.BOXED:
         system_prompt = system_prompt or (THINK_BOXED_SYSTEM_PROMPT if use_think else BOXED_SYSTEM_PROMPT)
         parser = vf.ThinkParser(extract_boxed_answer) if use_think else vf.Parser(extract_boxed_answer)
diff --git a/environments/medbullets/medbullets.py b/environments/medbullets/medbullets.py
index f0d3431e..7ffa5867 100644
--- a/environments/medbullets/medbullets.py
+++ b/environments/medbullets/medbullets.py
@@ -1,6 +1,7 @@
 import verifiers as vf
 from datasets import Dataset, load_dataset
 from datasets.utils.logging import disable_progress_bar
+from medarc_verifiers.parsers.xml_parser import XMLParser
 from medarc_verifiers.prompts import THINK_XML_SYSTEM_PROMPT, XML_SYSTEM_PROMPT, AnswerFormat
 from medarc_verifiers.rewards.multiple_choice_accuracy import multiple_choice_accuracy
 from medarc_verifiers.utils.randomize_multiple_choice import randomize_multiple_choice
@@ -131,7 +132,7 @@ def load_environment(
     if answer_format == AnswerFormat.XML:
         system_prompt = THINK_XML_SYSTEM_PROMPT if use_think else XML_SYSTEM_PROMPT
         parser_fields = ["think", "answer"] if use_think else ["answer"]
-        parser = vf.XMLParser(fields=parser_fields, answer_field="answer")
+        parser = XMLParser(fields=parser_fields, answer_field="answer")
     elif answer_format == AnswerFormat.BOXED:
         parser = (
             vf.ThinkParser(extract_fn=extract_boxed_answer) if use_think else vf.Parser(extract_fn=extract_boxed_answer)
diff --git a/environments/medcasereasoning/medcasereasoning.py b/environments/medcasereasoning/medcasereasoning.py
index 87afc915..9d81a70d 100644
--- a/environments/medcasereasoning/medcasereasoning.py
+++ b/environments/medcasereasoning/medcasereasoning.py
@@ -1,3 +1,5 @@
+import re
+
 import verifiers as vf
 from datasets import load_dataset
 from datasets.utils.logging import disable_progress_bar
@@ -113,7 +115,9 @@ async def medical_diagnosis_reward_func(
             )
 
             # Parse judge response
-            judge_response_clean = judge_response.strip().lower()
+            judge_response_clean = re.sub(
+                r"<think>.*?</think>", "", judge_response, flags=re.DOTALL | re.IGNORECASE
+            ).strip().lower()
         else:
             judge_response_clean = "no"
             judge_response = "no answer"
diff --git a/environments/medconceptsqa/medconceptsqa.py b/environments/medconceptsqa/medconceptsqa.py
index 0b8e443d..45d7e6bd 100644
--- a/environments/medconceptsqa/medconceptsqa.py
+++ b/environments/medconceptsqa/medconceptsqa.py
@@ -4,6 +4,7 @@
 import verifiers as vf
 from datasets import Dataset, load_dataset
 from datasets.utils.logging import disable_progress_bar
+from medarc_verifiers.parsers.xml_parser import XMLParser
 from medarc_verifiers.prompts import THINK_XML_SYSTEM_PROMPT, XML_SYSTEM_PROMPT, AnswerFormat
 from medarc_verifiers.rewards.multiple_choice_accuracy import multiple_choice_accuracy
 from medarc_verifiers.utils.randomize_multiple_choice import randomize_multiple_choice
@@ -183,7 +184,7 @@ def _map(row: dict, idx: int | None = None) -> dict:
     if answer_format == AnswerFormat.XML:
         system_prompt = THINK_XML_SYSTEM_PROMPT if use_think else XML_SYSTEM_PROMPT
         parser_fields = ["think", "answer"] if use_think else ["answer"]
-        parser = vf.XMLParser(fields=parser_fields, answer_field="answer")
+        parser = XMLParser(fields=parser_fields, answer_field="answer")
     elif answer_format == AnswerFormat.BOXED:
         system_prompt = THINK_BOXED_SYSTEM_PROMPT if use_think else BOXED_SYSTEM_PROMPT
         parser = vf.ThinkParser(extract_boxed_answer) if use_think else vf.Parser(extract_boxed_answer)
diff --git a/environments/medqa/medqa.py b/environments/medqa/medqa.py
index af68fce1..f4497c5d 100644
--- a/environments/medqa/medqa.py
+++ b/environments/medqa/medqa.py
@@ -3,6 +3,7 @@
 import verifiers as vf
 from datasets import load_dataset
 from datasets.utils.logging import disable_progress_bar
+from medarc_verifiers.parsers.xml_parser import XMLParser
 from medarc_verifiers.prompts import THINK_XML_SYSTEM_PROMPT, XML_SYSTEM_PROMPT, AnswerFormat
 from medarc_verifiers.rewards.multiple_choice_accuracy import multiple_choice_accuracy
 from medarc_verifiers.utils.randomize_multiple_choice import randomize_multiple_choice
@@ -79,7 +80,7 @@ def _map(ex, idx=None):
     if answer_format == AnswerFormat.XML:
         system_prompt = system_prompt or (THINK_XML_SYSTEM_PROMPT if use_think else XML_SYSTEM_PROMPT)
         parser_fields = ["think", "answer"] if use_think else ["answer"]
-        parser = vf.XMLParser(fields=parser_fields, answer_field="answer")
+        parser = XMLParser(fields=parser_fields, answer_field="answer")
     elif answer_format == AnswerFormat.BOXED:
         parser = vf.ThinkParser(extract_boxed_answer) if use_think else vf.Parser(extract_boxed_answer)
         system_prompt = system_prompt or (THINK_BOXED_SYSTEM_PROMPT if use_think else BOXED_SYSTEM_PROMPT)
diff --git a/environments/medredqa/medredqa.py b/environments/medredqa/medredqa.py
index 50810dab..3d3f82ae 100644
--- a/environments/medredqa/medredqa.py
+++ b/environments/medredqa/medredqa.py
@@ -5,6 +5,7 @@
 from datasets import load_dataset
 from datasets.utils.logging import disable_progress_bar
 from factscore_judge.atomic_facts_judge import create_atomic_facts_judge_rubric
+from medarc_verifiers.parsers.xml_parser import XMLParser
 from openai import AsyncOpenAI
 
 disable_progress_bar()  # suppress datasets mapping progress bar
@@ -82,9 +83,9 @@ def load_environment(
 
     # Create parser - XMLParser with both think and answer fields if use_think is True
     parser = (
-        vf.XMLParser(fields=["think", "answer"], answer_field="answer")
+        XMLParser(fields=["think", "answer"], answer_field="answer")
         if use_think
-        else vf.XMLParser(fields=["answer"], answer_field="answer")
+        else XMLParser(fields=["answer"], answer_field="answer")
     )
 
     # Create JudgeRubric using the helper function from judge.py
diff --git a/environments/medxpertqa/medxpertqa.py b/environments/medxpertqa/medxpertqa.py
index 2ef3334e..f8cca9a8 100644
--- a/environments/medxpertqa/medxpertqa.py
+++ b/environments/medxpertqa/medxpertqa.py
@@ -2,6 +2,7 @@
 import verifiers as vf
 from datasets import load_dataset
 from datasets.utils.logging import disable_progress_bar
+from medarc_verifiers.parsers.xml_parser import XMLParser
 from medarc_verifiers.prompts import AnswerFormat
 from medarc_verifiers.rewards.multiple_choice_accuracy import multiple_choice_accuracy
 from medarc_verifiers.utils.randomize_multiple_choice import randomize_multiple_choice
@@ -105,7 +106,7 @@ def _map(example: dict) -> dict:
 
     if answer_format == AnswerFormat.XML:
         parser_fields = ["think", "answer"] if use_think else ["answer"]
-        parser = vf.XMLParser(fields=parser_fields, answer_field="answer")
+        parser = XMLParser(fields=parser_fields, answer_field="answer")
     elif answer_format == AnswerFormat.BOXED:
         parser = vf.ThinkParser(extract_boxed_answer) if use_think else vf.Parser(extract_boxed_answer)
     else:
diff --git a/environments/pubmedqa/pubmedqa.py b/environments/pubmedqa/pubmedqa.py
index dc733550..aa03fdf8 100644
--- a/environments/pubmedqa/pubmedqa.py
+++ b/environments/pubmedqa/pubmedqa.py
@@ -4,6 +4,7 @@
 import verifiers as vf
 from datasets import load_dataset
 from datasets.utils.logging import disable_progress_bar
+from medarc_verifiers.parsers.xml_parser import XMLParser
 from medarc_verifiers.prompts import THINK_XML_SYSTEM_PROMPT, XML_SYSTEM_PROMPT, AnswerFormat
 from medarc_verifiers.rewards.multiple_choice_accuracy import multiple_choice_accuracy
 from medarc_verifiers.utils.randomize_multiple_choice import randomize_multiple_choice
@@ -147,7 +148,7 @@ def load_environment(
 
     if answer_format == AnswerFormat.XML:
         parser_fields = ["think", "answer"] if use_think else ["answer"]
-        parser = vf.XMLParser(fields=parser_fields, answer_field="answer")
+        parser = XMLParser(fields=parser_fields, answer_field="answer")
         system_prompt = THINK_XML_SYSTEM_PROMPT if use_think else XML_SYSTEM_PROMPT
     elif answer_format == AnswerFormat.BOXED:
         parser = (
diff --git a/environments/rubric_train/pyproject.toml b/environments/rubric_train/pyproject.toml
new file mode 100644
index 00000000..19bb9476
--- /dev/null
+++ b/environments/rubric_train/pyproject.toml
@@ -0,0 +1,25 @@
+[project]
+name = "rubric-train"
+description = "Training env: rubric-judged open-ended medical prompts for RL reward"
+tags = ["medical", "rubric", "single-turn", "llm-judge", "train"]
+version = "0.1.0"
+requires-python = ">=3.11"
+dependencies = [
+    "medarc-verifiers>=0.1.0",
+    "verifiers>=0.1.4",
+    "datasets>=4.1.1",
+    "openai>=2.1.0",
+    "healthbench",
+]
+
+[dependency-groups]
+dev = [
+    "ruff>=0.13.3",
+]
+
+[tool.prime.environment]
+loader = "rubric_train:load_environment"
+
+[build-system]
+requires = ["hatchling"]
+build-backend = "hatchling.build"
diff --git a/environments/rubric_train/rubric_train.py b/environments/rubric_train/rubric_train.py
new file mode 100644
index 00000000..c48ddc4d
--- /dev/null
+++ b/environments/rubric_train/rubric_train.py
@@ -0,0 +1,140 @@
+"""RL training env: HealthBench-style rubric-judged prompts.
+
+Wraps the existing `healthbench` env's judge-per-criterion reward path so it
+can be driven from prime-rl as a training env with a `dataset=` attribute
+(not just eval). Each rollout's reward = sum(points for criteria met) /
+sum(positive_points_possible), bounded to [0, 1].
+
+Train split comes from HealthBench's `consensus` (3,671 examples) or `hard`
+(1,000 examples) datasets. Eval split comes from HealthBench `all` test set.
+Choosing a smaller eval slice keeps per-step validation cheap.
+"""
+
+from __future__ import annotations
+
+import asyncio
+from pathlib import Path
+from typing import Any
+
+import verifiers as vf
+from datasets import load_dataset
+from datasets.utils.logging import disable_progress_bar
+
+# Reuse healthbench's judge-plumbing + scoring exactly — single source of truth.
+from healthbench import (  # type: ignore[import-not-found]
+    HEALTHBENCH_CONSENSUS_CRITERIA_LOOKUP,
+    _format_prompt_to_judge,
+    _judge_single_criterion,
+    _process_healthbench_dataset,
+)
+from medarc_verifiers.judging import MultiJudge, MultiJudgeRubric
+from medarc_verifiers.types import Messages
+from verifiers.types import Info, State
+
+disable_progress_bar()
+
+
+TRAIN_MAPPING = {
+    "consensus": ("neuralleap/healthbench-consensus", "train"),
+    "hard": ("neuralleap/healthbench-hard", "train"),
+}
+EVAL_DATASET = ("neuralleap/healthbench-regular", "test")
+
+
+def load_environment(
+    judge_model: str | list[str] = "openai/gpt-oss-20b",
+    judge_base_url: str | list[str] | None = None,
+    judge_api_key: str | list[str] | None = None,
+    train_split: str = "consensus",
+    num_train_examples: int | None = None,
+    num_eval_examples: int = 100,
+    judge_timeout: int | None = 300,
+    max_parallel_judges: int | None = 3,
+    **kwargs: Any,
+) -> vf.Environment:
+    """Return a SingleTurnEnv with HealthBench-style rubric reward.
+
+    The reward for a rollout is `sum(points for criteria met)` divided by
+    `sum(p for p in points_possible if p > 0)`. Negative points stay negative
+    when met, which preserves the penalty structure of the original rubric.
+
+    `judge_model` defaults to gpt-oss-20b (matches the scale-sweep judge on
+    n-4:18001). Override via `judge_base_url` for a different endpoint.
+    """
+    if train_split not in TRAIN_MAPPING:
+        raise ValueError(f"Unknown train_split={train_split}; expected one of {list(TRAIN_MAPPING)}")
+
+    train_repo, train_split_name = TRAIN_MAPPING[train_split]
+    train_ds = load_dataset(train_repo, split=train_split_name)
+    if num_train_examples is not None:
+        train_ds = train_ds.select(range(min(num_train_examples, len(train_ds))))
+    train_ds = train_ds.map(lambda ex: {"info": _process_healthbench_dataset(ex)})
+
+    eval_repo, eval_split_name = EVAL_DATASET
+    eval_ds = load_dataset(eval_repo, split=eval_split_name)
+    if num_eval_examples:
+        eval_ds = eval_ds.select(range(min(num_eval_examples, len(eval_ds))))
+    eval_ds = eval_ds.map(lambda ex: {"info": _process_healthbench_dataset(ex)})
+
+    multi_judge = MultiJudge.from_env_args(
+        judge_model=judge_model,
+        judge_base_url=judge_base_url,
+        judge_api_key=judge_api_key,
+        judge_prompt="{question}",
+        judge_timeout=judge_timeout,
+    )
+    rubric = MultiJudgeRubric(multi_judge)
+
+    criteria_parallel = max_parallel_judges if max_parallel_judges is not None else 3
+
+    async def reward_rubric(prompt: Messages, completion: Messages, info: Info, state: State) -> float:
+        """Per-rollout reward = fraction of positive-point rubric criteria met.
+
+        Mirrors healthbench.reward_healthbench but normalizes by positive-point
+        total so the scalar lives in [0, 1] for RL stability.
+        """
+        if isinstance(completion, list) and completion:
+            raw_completion = completion[-1].get("content", "")
+        else:
+            raw_completion = str(completion)
+
+        conversation = _format_prompt_to_judge(prompt, raw_completion)
+        criteria = info.get("criteria", []) or []
+        points_list = info.get("points_list", []) or []
+        if not points_list:
+            return 0.0
+
+        positive_total = sum(pt for pt in points_list if pt > 0)
+        if positive_total <= 0:
+            return 0.0
+
+        semaphore = asyncio.Semaphore(criteria_parallel)
+        tasks = [
+            _judge_single_criterion(
+                idx=idx,
+                criterion=criterion,
+                points_possible=pts,
+                conversation=conversation,
+                rubric=rubric,
+                semaphore=semaphore,
+                state=state,
+            )
+            for idx, (criterion, pts) in enumerate(zip(criteria, points_list))
+        ]
+        judgments = await asyncio.gather(*tasks)
+
+        earned = 0.0
+        for j in judgments:
+            if isinstance(j, dict) and j.get("criteria_met"):
+                earned += float(j.get("points_possible", 0))
+        # Clamp to [0, 1] — negative-point criteria can push earned slightly below 0.
+        return max(0.0, min(1.0, earned / positive_total))
+
+    rubric.add_reward_func(reward_rubric, weight=1.0)
+
+    return vf.SingleTurnEnv(
+        dataset=train_ds,
+        eval_dataset=eval_ds,
+        system_prompt="",
+        rubric=rubric,
+    )
diff --git a/environments/sctpublic/sctpublic/sctpublic.py b/environments/sctpublic/sctpublic/sctpublic.py
index 3829cead..b6916398 100644
--- a/environments/sctpublic/sctpublic/sctpublic.py
+++ b/environments/sctpublic/sctpublic/sctpublic.py
@@ -93,11 +93,28 @@ def parse_prompt(row):
     return df
 
 
+_THINK_BLOCK_RE = re.compile(r"<think>.*?</think>", re.DOTALL | re.IGNORECASE)
+
+
 class SCTParser(vf.Parser):
     """Parser for SCT numeric ratings (-2 to +2)."""
 
+    @staticmethod
+    def _strip_think_blocks(text: str) -> str:
+        """Remove <think>...</think> blocks so we only parse the final answer.
+
+        Also handles the case where a model emits an unpaired </think>
+        (no opening tag) -- we keep only the text after the last </think>.
+        """
+        if "<think>" in text.lower():
+            text = _THINK_BLOCK_RE.sub("", text)
+        if "</think>" in text.lower():
+            text = text.split("</think>")[-1]
+        return text.strip()
+
     def parse_answer(self, completion: Any) -> str | None:
         response = getattr(completion, "content", str(completion))
+        response = self._strip_think_blocks(response)
         try:
             rating = response.split("Rating: ")[1][:5]
             pattern = r"\+2|\+1|0|-1|-2"
diff --git a/medarc_verifiers/parsers/xml_parser.py b/medarc_verifiers/parsers/xml_parser.py
index 6a1176fc..49606d78 100644
--- a/medarc_verifiers/parsers/xml_parser.py
+++ b/medarc_verifiers/parsers/xml_parser.py
@@ -61,6 +61,25 @@ def parse(self, completion: Messages | str, strip: bool = True, last: bool = Fal
                 return parsed
         return None
 
+    def parse_answer(self, completion: Messages | str) -> str | None:
+        """Extract the last answer from a completion.
+
+        Overrides upstream to always use ``last=True`` when parsing chat messages.
+        Qwen 3.5 reasoning models echo ``<answer>`` tags inside their thinking
+        blocks, so we must take the **last** match to get the real answer.
+        """
+        if isinstance(completion, str):
+            parsed = self.parse(completion, last=True)
+            if parsed and hasattr(parsed, self.answer_field) and getattr(parsed, self.answer_field) is not None:
+                return getattr(parsed, self.answer_field)
+        else:
+            for msg in reversed(self.get_assistant_messages(completion)):
+                content = str(msg.get("content", ""))
+                parsed = self.parse(content, last=True)
+                if parsed and hasattr(parsed, self.answer_field) and getattr(parsed, self.answer_field) is not None:
+                    return getattr(parsed, self.answer_field)
+        return None
+
     def _has_any_field(self, parsed: Any) -> bool:
         for _, alternatives in self._fields:
             for alt in alternatives: