Predicting performance on the Royal College of Physicians and Surgeons of Canada internal medicine written examination.
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.
Brill-Edwards
P
P
Department of Medicine, McMaster University, Hamilton, Ont.
Evans
G
G
Hamilton
P
P
Hramiak
I
I
Megran
D
D
Schmuck
M L
ML
Cole
G
G
Mikhael
N
N
Norman
G
G
D002170:Canada; D004503:Education, Medical, Graduate; D004521:Educational Measurement; D006801:Humans; D007388:Internal Medicine; D011237:Predictive Value of Tests; D014956:Writing