title: Using the NBME self-assessments to project performance on USMLE Step 1 and Step 2: impact of test administration conditions.
abstract: OBJECTIVE
  This study examined the extent to which performance on the NBME(R) Comprehensive Basic Science Self-Assessment (CBSSA) and NBME Comprehensive Clinical Science Self-Assessment (CCSSA) can be used to project performance on USMLE Step 1 and Step 2 examinations, respectively.
  
  
  METHODS
  Subjects were 1,156 U.S./Canadian medical students who took either (1) the CBSSA and Step 1, or (2) the CCSSA and Step 2, between April 2003 and January 2004. Regression analyses examined the relationship between each self-assessment and corresponding USMLE Step as a function of test administration conditions.
  
  
  RESULTS
  The CBSSA explained 62% of the variation in Step 1 scores, while the CCSSA explained 56% of Step 2 score variation. In both samples, Standard-Paced conditions produced better estimates of future Step performance than Self-Paced ones.
  
  
  CONCLUSIONS
  Results indicate that self-assessment examinations provide an accurate basis for predicting performance on the associated Step with some variation in predictive accuracy across test administration conditions.
authors.affiliation: National Board of Medical Examiners, Philadelphia, PA 19104, USA. asawhill@nbme.org
authors.forename: Amy
authors.initials: A
authors.lastname: Sawhill
authors.forename: Aggie
authors.initials: A
authors.lastname: Butler
authors.forename: Douglas
authors.initials: D
authors.lastname: Ripkey
authors.forename: David B
authors.initials: DB
authors.lastname: Swanson
authors.forename: Raja
authors.initials: R
authors.lastname: Subhiyah
authors.forename: John
authors.initials: J
authors.lastname: Thelman
authors.forename: William
authors.initials: W
authors.lastname: Walsh
authors.forename: Kathleen Z
authors.initials: KZ
authors.lastname: Holtzman
authors.forename: Kathy
authors.initials: K
authors.lastname: Angelucci
mesh_terms: D002170:Canada; D002983:Clinical Competence; D015331:Cohort Studies; D004504:Education, Medical, Undergraduate; D004521:Educational Measurement / Q000379:methods*; D005246:Feedback; D005544:Forecasting; D006801:Humans; D020407:Internet; D008007:Licensure, Medical; D012586:Science / Q000193:education; D012655:Self-Evaluation Programs; D013337:Students, Medical; D013997:Time Factors; D014481:United States