Success on Prior Medical Examination Is a Strong Predictor of ABS Exam Outcomes

Barry CL, Jones AT, Rubright JD, et al. Analysis of Surgeon and Program Characteristics Associated with Success on American Board of Surgery Exam Outcomes. J Am Coll Surg. 2024, in press.

This article reported data from a study that investigated resident and program characteristics that were associated with first attempt pass of American Board of Surgery (ABS) examinations.

The authors used multilevel logistic regression to analyze data 2007–2019. Resident characteristics included gender, International Medical Graduate (IMG) status, and prior US Medical Licensing Examination (USMLE) test scores. Program characteristics included program size, percent female, percent IMG, and program type.

The data analysis showed that prior medical examination performance was the strongest resident characteristic for prediction of first attempt pass on the qualifying or certifying examination. This association varied but was generally strong. Other significant characteristics were gender and IMG status.

The only program characteristic that predicted ABS exam success was percent IMG. Although statistically significant, associations of gender, IMG, and percent IMG were not strongly associated with success.

The authors concluded that success on examinations such as the USMLE was a significant predictor of future board certification success and confirmed the validity of this examination. These data are interesting and provide a pathway for future research that could improve resident test performance.