The relationship between the american board of anesthesiology part 1 certification examination and the United States medical licensing examination.

BACKGROUND: The graduate medical education community uses results from the United States Medical Licensing Examination (USMLE) to inform decisions about individuals' readiness for postgraduate training. OBJECTIVE: We sought to determine the relationship between performance on the USMLE and the American Board of Anesthesiology (ABA) Part 1 Certification Examination using a national sample of examinees, and we considered the relationship in the context of undergraduate medical education location and examination content. METHODS: Approximately 7800 individuals met inclusion criteria. The relationships between USMLE scores and ABA Part 1 pass rates were examined, and predictions for the strength of the relationship between USMLE content areas and ABA performance were compared with observed relationships. RESULTS: Pearson correlations between ABA Part 1 scores and USMLE Steps 1, 2 (clinical knowledge), and 3 scores for first-taker US/Canadian graduates were .59, .56, and .53, respectively. A clear relationship was demonstrated between USMLE scores and pass rates on ABA Part 1, and content experts were able to successfully predict the USMLE content categories that would least or most likely relate to ABA Part 1 scores. CONCLUSIONS: The analysis provided evidence on a national scale that results from the USMLE and the ABA Part 1 were correlated and that success on the latter examination was associated with level of USMLE performance. Both testing programs have been successful in conceptualizing many of the knowledge areas of interest and in developing test content to reflect those areas.

Predicting success on the certification examinations of the American Board of Anesthesiology.

BACKGROUND: Currently, residency programs lack objective predictors for passing the sequenced American Board of Anesthesiology (ABA) certification examinations on the first attempt. Our hypothesis was that performance on the ABA/American Society of Anesthesiologists In-Training Examination (ITE) and other variables can predict combined success on the ABA Part 1 and Part 2 examinations. METHOD: The authors studied 2,458 subjects who took the ITE immediately after completing the first year of clinical anesthesia training and took the ABA Part 1 examination for primary certification immediately after completing residency training 2 yr later. ITE scores and other variables were used to predict which residents would complete the certification process (passing the ABA Part 1 and Part 2 examinations) in the shortest possible time after graduation. RESULTS: ITE scores alone accounted for most of the explained variation in the desired outcome of certification in the shortest possible time. In addition, almost half of the observed variation and most of the explained variance in ABA Part 1 scores was accounted for by ITE scores. A combined model using ITE scores, residency program accreditation cycle length, country of medical school, and gender best predicted which residents would complete the certification examinations in the shortest possible time. CONCLUSIONS: The principal implication of this study is that higher ABA/ American Society of Anesthesiologists ITE scores taken at the end of the first clinical anesthesia year serve as a significant and moderately strong predictor of high performance on the ABA Part 1 (written) examination, and a significant predictor of success in completing both the Part 1 and Part 2 examinations within the calendar year after the year of graduation from residency. Future studies may identify other predictors, and it would be helpful to identify factors that predict clinical performance as well.

The qualifications of pain physicians in Ohio.

Pain physicians in Ohio come from many medical backgrounds and use different medical boards to claim board certification in the field of pain medicine. Our goal was to explore the number, demographics, and qualifications of pain physicians in Ohio. The names of Ohio physicians designating themselves as pain physicians were collected from the State Medical Board of Ohio and the American Medical Association. The directories of the American Board of Medical Specialties (ABMS), the American Board of Pain Medicine, the American Academy of Pain Management, and the American Board of Medical Acupuncture were referenced for certification in pain medicine, pain management, or medical acupuncture. The requirements for these credentials vary widely, yet they have all been used to claim "board certification." Board certification in medicine implies recognition by an ABMS member board as having completed the required training, met the standards, and then passed an examination that validates qualifications, and knowledge in a specific medical field. In 2002, there were 335 Ohio physicians designating themselves as pain physicians. Two-hundred-eighteen (65%) had at least one pain board certification. Ninety-six (29%) of the Ohio pain physicians were certified in pain medicine by the American Board of Anesthesiology, the American Board of Physical Medicine and Rehabilitation, or the American Board of Psychiatry and Neurology, which are all member boards of the ABMS. One-hundred-seventeen (35%) of the self-declared Ohio pain physicians held no pain-related board certification. Anesthesiologists comprise the majority of all pain physicians and are the majority in all four pain boards.