Implementing and Evaluating a National Certification Technical Skills Examination: The Colorectal Objective Structured Assessment of Technical Skill.

Objective: To implement the Colorectal Objective Structured Assessment of Technical skill (COSATS) into American Board of Colon and Rectal Surgery (ABCRS) certification and build evidence of validity for the interpretation of the scores of this high stakes assessment tool.

Background Data: Currently, technical skill assessment is not a formal component of board certification. With the technical demands of surgical specialties, documenting competence in technical skill at the time of certification with a valid tool is ideal.

Methods: In September 2014, the COSATS was a mandatory component of ABCRS certification. Seventy candidates took the examination, with their performance evaluated by expert colorectal surgeons using a task-specific checklist, global rating scale, and overall performance scale. Passing scores were set and compared using 2 standard setting methodologies, using a compensatory and conjunctive model. Inter-rater reliability and the reliability of the pass/fail decision were calculated using Cronbach alpha and Subkoviak methodology, respectively. Overall COSATS scores and pass/fail status were compared with results on the ABCRS oral examination.

Results: The pass rate ranged from 85.7% to 90%. Inter-rater reliability (0.85) and reliability of the pass/fail decision (0.87 and 0.84) were high. A low positive correlation (r= 0.25) was seen between the COSATS and oral examination. All individuals who failed the COSATS passed the ABCRS oral examination.

Conclusions: COSATS is the first technical skill examination used in national surgical board certification. This study suggests that the current certification process may be failing to identify individuals who have demonstrated technical deficiencies on this standardized assessment tool.