title: Predicting performance on the Royal College of Physicians and Surgeons of Canada internal medicine written examination.
abstract: BACKGROUND
  Although the written component of the Royal College of Physicians and Surgeons of Canada (RCPSC)internal medicine examination is important for obtaining licensure and certification as a specialist, no methods exist to predict a candidate's performance on the examination.
  
  
  METHODS
  We obtained data from 5 Canadian universities from 1988 to 1998 in order to compare raw scores from the American Internal Medicine In-Training Examination (AIMI-TE) with raw scores and outcomes (pass or fail) of the written component of the RCPSC internal medicine examination.
  
  
  RESULTS
  Mean scores on the AIMI-TE correlated well with scores on the RCPSC internal medicine written examination for all postgraduate years (r = 0.62, r = 0.55 and r = 0.65 for postgraduate years 1, 2 and 3 respectively). Scores above the 50th percentile on the AIMI-TE w/ere predictive of a low failure rate (< 1.5%) on the RCPSC internal medicine written examination, whereas scores at or below the 10th percentile were associated with a high failure rate (about 24%).
  
  
  CONCLUSIONS
  Candidates who are eligible to take the written component of the RCPSC certification examination in internal medicine can use the AIMI-TE to predict their performance on the Canadian examination. The AIMI-TE is a useful test for residents in all levels of training, because the examination scores have a strong relation to expected performance on the Canadian examination for each year of postgraduate training.
authors.affiliation: Department of Medicine, McMaster University, Hamilton, Ont.
authors.forename: P
authors.initials: P
authors.lastname: Brill-Edwards
authors.forename: G
authors.initials: G
authors.lastname: Evans
authors.forename: P
authors.initials: P
authors.lastname: Hamilton
authors.forename: I
authors.initials: I
authors.lastname: Hramiak
authors.forename: D
authors.initials: D
authors.lastname: Megran
authors.forename: M L
authors.initials: ML
authors.lastname: Schmuck
authors.forename: G
authors.initials: G
authors.lastname: Cole
authors.forename: N
authors.initials: N
authors.lastname: Mikhael
authors.forename: G
authors.initials: G
authors.lastname: Norman
mesh_terms: D002170:Canada; D004503:Education, Medical, Graduate; D004521:Educational Measurement; D006801:Humans; D007388:Internal Medicine; D011237:Predictive Value of Tests; D014956:Writing