ABR Core Examination Changes That Affect Residency Candidate Decisions.

Purpose: The recent restructuring of the ABR core examination has prompted changes to radiology residency training. The purpose of this study is to determine how factors related to the core examination restructuring influenced radiology applicants' match decisions.

Methods: We surveyed 626 applicants to our institution's radiology residency, after the 2014 match. Applicants rated 21 factors on a 5-point scale. Eight of the factors pertained to the core examination. The respondents additionally listed the top three factors in order of importance.

Results: The response rate was 153 of 626 (24.4%). The three most influential factors were current resident satisfaction (average score: 4.74 of 5.00 [95% confidence interval (CI) = 4.64-4.83]), quality of faculty (4.63 [95% CI = 4.52-4.73]) and quality of educational curriculum and clinical training (4.60 [95% CI = 4.50-4.70]). Of factors related to the core examination, the highest rated were core examination pass rate (4.21 [95% CI = 4.07-4.35]) and program resources/time off for external review courses (3.92 [95% CI = 3.79-4.04]). Core examination pass rate (16 of 459 [3.5%]) and time off from clinical duties to study for the examination (6 of 459 [1.3%]) appeared infrequently in respondents' lists of the top three most influential factors.

Conclusions: Factors influencing candidates' choice of radiology program are similar to those reported previously, despite the addition of topics related to core examination restructuring. Although programs vary in how they have addressed the changes, these issues are less important to candidates than are more traditional factors.