title: The development and implementation of an in-service exam for medical genetics residency programs.
abstract: OBJECTIVE
  In-service exams are a commonly used educational tool in postgraduate medical education. Although most specialties utilize such an exam, medical genetics did not. It was decided in the spring of 2009 at the inaugural Medical Genetics Residency Program Directors (PDs) Group meeting to develop and implement such a test.
  
  
  METHODS
  Using questions sent in from PDs, a 125-question exam was created, with 125 multiple-choice questions according to the format of the National Board of Medical Examiners. The exam covered genetics in the following areas: basic/molecular (~45 questions), cancer and adult (20), prenatal (20), biochemical (20), pediatric/dysmorphology (20). The exam was administered for the first time in February 2010, and again with modifications in 2011.
  
  
  RESULTS
  In total, 174 trainees from 35 programs completed the exam in 2010; in 2011 the number increased to 214, representing 39 US programs, and 4 Canadian programs. For both years, most participants were medical genetics residents (106 in 2010; 127 in 2011), but a substantial number of clinical laboratory fellows also participated (68 in 2010; 85 in 2011).
  
  
  CONCLUSIONS
  The development and implementation of this test were an overall success, in that in two years we were able to secure almost 100% participation from medical genetics residency programs, and that we created an infrastructure to develop and implement this exam on a yearly basis. There is need for improvement, notably in the relatively low mean score and relatively narrow spread of scores. However, we believe that, with efforts under way to improve the quality of the questions, the in-service exam will become a fundamental tool in medical genetics residency education.
authors.affiliation: Department of Genetics, University of Alabama at Birmingham, Birmingham, Alabama, USA. nrobin@uab.edu
authors.forename: Nathaniel H
authors.initials: NH
authors.lastname: Robin
authors.forename: V
authors.initials: V
authors.lastname: Reid Sutton
authors.forename: John
authors.initials: J
authors.lastname: Caldwell
authors.forename: James
authors.initials: J
authors.lastname: Jackson
authors.forename: Mira
authors.initials: M
authors.lastname: Irons
authors.forename: Laurie
authors.initials: L
authors.lastname: Demmer
mesh_terms: D002170:Canada; D004521:Educational Measurement / Q000379:methods* / Q000706:statistics & numerical data; D005826:Genetics, Medical / Q000193:education* / Q000592:standards; D006801:Humans; D007396:Internship and Residency / Q000592:standards / Q000639:trends*; D014481:United States