Does the National Board of Medical Examiners' Surgery Subtest level the playing field?
BACKGROUND
We sought to determine if scores on the National Board of Medical Examiners' Surgery Subject Examination (NBME-SS) correlated with ward assessment of Fund of Knowledge and how the NBME-SS scores impacted surgery clerkship grade.


METHODS
Student evaluations from 4 academic years (1999-2003) were analyzed. Scores from the Fund of Knowledge subsection were compared with scores on the NBME-SS. Student final grades were calculated with (at a weight of 10%) and without NBME-SS score.


RESULTS
Data were available for all 399 students who rotated on surgery during the study period. Fund of Knowledge score and NBME-SS scores correlated minimally (Pearson's r = 0.108, P = 0.031). Performance on the NBME-SS helped 11% of students' grades, but 64% of students' grades were hurt. Fifteen percent of the students missed receiving honors because of their performance on the NBME-SS.


CONCLUSIONS
The NBME-SS negatively influenced the grades of a large proportion of students and correlated only minimally with Fund of Knowledge scores as assessed on ward evaluations.
Hermanson
Brooke
B
Surgical Services, George E. Wahlen VA Medical Center, Salt Lake City, UT, USA.
Firpo
Matthew
M
Cochran
Amalia
A
Neumayer
Leigh
L
D000328:Adult; D002983:Clinical Competence; D004503:Education, Medical, Graduate; D004521:Educational Measurement / Q000706:statistics & numerical data*; D005260:Female; D013502:General Surgery / Q000193:education*; D006801:Humans; D008007:Licensure, Medical / Q000592:standards*; D008297:Male; D013044:Specialty Boards / Q000592:standards*; D014481:United States