title: Predicting international medical graduate success on college certification examinations: responding to the Thomson and Cohl judicial report on IMG selection.
abstract: OBJECTIVE
  To determine predictors of international medical graduate (IMG) success in accordance with the priorities highlighted by the Thomson and Cohl judicial report on IMG selection.
  
  
  METHODS
  Retrospective assessment using regression analyses to compare the information available at the time of resident selection with those trainees' national certification examination outcomes.
  
  
  METHODS
  McMaster University in Hamilton, Ont.
  
  
  METHODS
  McMaster University IMG residents who completed the program between 2005 and 2011.
  
  
  METHODS
  Associations between IMG professional experience or demographic characteristics and examination outcomes.
  
  
  RESULTS
  The analyses revealed that country of study and performance on the Medical Council of Canada Evaluating Examination are among the predictors of performance on the College of Family Physicians of Canada and the Royal College of Physicians and Surgeons of Canada certification examinations. Of interest, the analyses also suggest discipline-specific relationships between previous professional experience and examination success.
  
  
  CONCLUSIONS
  This work presents a useful technique for further improving our understanding of the performance of IMGs on certification examinations in North America, encourages similar interinstitutional analyses, and provides a foundation for the development of tools to assist with IMG education.
authors.affiliation: Associate Professor of Family Medicine and IMG Coordinator at McMaster University in Hamilton, Ont.
authors.forename: Inge
authors.initials: I
authors.lastname: Schabort
authors.affiliation: Postdoctoral fellow with the Program for Educational Research and Development at McMaster University.
authors.forename: Mathew
authors.initials: M
authors.lastname: Mercuri
authors.affiliation: Assistant Professor in the Department of Family Medicine and Associate Member of the Department of Clinical Epidemiology and Biostatistics at McMaster University. griersle@mcmaster.ca.
authors.forename: Lawrence E M
authors.initials: LE
authors.lastname: Grierson
mesh_terms: D002170:Canada; D002568:Certification; D002983:Clinical Competence; D004503:Education, Medical, Graduate; D004521:Educational Measurement; D005550:Foreign Medical Graduates; D006801:Humans; D007396:Internship and Residency; D009656:North America; D010820:Physicians; D012189:Retrospective Studies