Reported Pediatrics Milestones (Mostly) Measure Program, Not Learner Performance.

Purpose: Semiannually, U.S. pediatrics residency programs report resident milestone levels to the Accreditation Council for Graduate Medical Education (ACGME).

Evaluating Validity Evidence for USMLE Step 2 Clinical Skills Data Gathering and Data Interpretation Scores: Does Performance Predict History-Taking and Physical Examination Ratings for First-Year Internal Medicine Residents?

Purpose: To add to the small body of validity research addressing whether scores from performance assessments of clinical skills are related to performance in supervised patient settings, the authors examined relationships between United States Medical Licensing Examination (USMLE) Step 2 Clinical Skills (CS) data gathering and data interpretation scores and subsequent performance in history taking and physical examination in internal medicine residency training.

Method: The sample included 6,306 examinees from 238 internal medicine residency programs who completed Step 2 CS for the first time in 2005 and whose performance ratings from their first year of residency training were available. Hierarchical linear modeling techniques were used to examine the relationships among Step 2 CS data gathering and data interpretation scores and history-taking and physical examination ratings.

The relationship between communication scores from the USMLE Step 2 Clinical Skills examination and communication ratings for first-year internal medicine residents.

Purpose: This study extends available evidence about the relationship between scores on the Step 2 Clinical Skills (CS) component of the United States Medical Licensing Examination and subsequent performance in residency. It focuses on the relationship between Step 2 CS communication and interpersonal skills scores and communication skills ratings that residency directors assign to residents in their first postgraduate year of internal medicine training. It represents the first large-scale evaluation of the extent to which Step 2 CS communication and interpersonal skills scores can be extrapolated to examinee performance in supervised practice.

What new residents do during their initial months of training.

Background: Studies completed over the past decade suggest the presence of a gap between what students learn during medical school and their clinical responsibilities as first-year residents. The purpose of this survey was to verify on a large scale the responsibilities of residents during their initial months of training.

Method: Practice analysis surveys were mailed in September 2009 to 1,104 residency programs for distribution to an estimated 8,793 first-year residents.

Validity evidence for USMLE examination cut scores: results of a large-scale survey.

Purpose: This research examined the credibility of the cut scores used to make pass/fail decisions on United States Medical Licensing Examination (USMLE) Step 1, Step 2 Clinical Knowledge, and Step 3.

Method: Approximately 15,000 members of nine constituency groups were asked their opinions about (1) current initial and ultimate fail rates and (2) the highest acceptable, lowest acceptable, and optimal initial and ultimate fail rates.

Results: Initial fail rates were generally viewed as appropriate; more variability was associated with ultimate fail rates.

Gathering evidence of external validity for the Foundations of Medicine examination: a collaboration between the National Board of Medical Examiners and the University of Minho.

Background: To gather evidence of external validity for the Foundations of Medicine (FOM) examination by assessing the relationship between its subscores and local grades for a sample of Portuguese medical students.

Method: Correlations were computed between six FOM subscores and nine Minho University grades for a sample of 90 medical students. A canonical correlation analysis was run between FOM and Minho measures.