title: Conference attendance and performance on the in-training examination in internal medicine.
abstract: The objective of this study was to describe the relationship between attendance at conferences during residency training and residents' performance on the In-Training Examination (ITE) in Internal Medicine. Nineteen house officers participated in the study. Conference attendance records were retrospectively reviewed for the one-year period preceding the ITE (pre-ITE), and in the three-month period after house officers received their ITE scores (post-ITE). After receiving their scores, participants completed a questionnaire asking about study habits and opinions about conferences. Attendance was taken at 126/165 (76.4%) conferences pre-ITE and 32/42 (76.2%) conferences post-ITE. House officers attended a mean of 35% (range, 10-59) of the conferences pre-ITE and 32% (range, 9-75) post-ITE (p = 0.365). There was no correlation between prior conference attendance and ITE scores (Spearman correlation coefficient -0.230, p = 0.34), and no correlation between score and conference attendance post-ITE (Spearman correlation coefficient 0.174, p = 0.48). Participation in clinical rotations also failed to influence ITE scores in that content area (all p > 0.05). The findings of this study suggest conference attendance does not influence ITE scores. Medical educators may need to rethink and study how best to impart medical knowledge.
authors.affiliation: Greater Baltimore Medical Center, Baltimore, MD, USA. scaccamese@gbmc.org
authors.forename: Suzanne M
authors.initials: SM
authors.lastname: Cacamese
authors.forename: Kathryn J
authors.initials: KJ
authors.lastname: Eubank
authors.forename: Randy S
authors.initials: RS
authors.lastname: Hebert
authors.forename: Scott M
authors.initials: SM
authors.lastname: Wright
mesh_terms: D000328:Adult; D002983:Clinical Competence; D003226:Congresses as Topic / Q000706:statistics & numerical data*; D004521:Educational Measurement; D006801:Humans; D007388:Internal Medicine / Q000193:education*; D007396:Internship and Residency / Q000706:statistics & numerical data*; D008873:Mid-Atlantic Region; D012189:Retrospective Studies; D011795:Surveys and Questionnaires