Influence of clerkship sites on National Board of Medical Examiners surgery subject examination performance.
BACKGROUND
As one measure of comparability of student experiences on a 2-month surgery clerkship, scores on the National Board of Medical Examiners Surgery Subject Examination (NSSE) were evaluated against a number of variables.


METHODS
NSSE scores for 701 students completing the surgery clerkship over 3.5 years were analyzed. Students rotated at academic, VA, and community hospitals with 1 month of general surgery paired with 1 month of a surgical subspecialty. The effect of 15 rotation site pairings on NSSE performance was analyzed by analysis of variance. The relationship of site-specific student evaluation variables and NSSE scores was examined by stepwise multivariate linear regression.


RESULTS
No statistical differences were demonstrated between NSSE scores and site-specific parameters of duty hours, resident participation, or type of hospital, nor between NSSE scores and paired sites constituting the overall clerkship experience.


CONCLUSIONS
Performance on the NSSE was not impacted by any assigned paired sites, supporting comparability of overall clerkship experiences.
Department of Surgery, Office of Educational Services, Medical College of Wisconsin, 9200 W. Wisconsin Avenue, Milwaukee, WI 53226, USA.
Rebecca M
RM
Rentea
Department of Surgery, Office of Educational Services, Medical College of Wisconsin, 9200 W. Wisconsin Avenue, Milwaukee, WI 53226, USA; Clement J. Zablocki VA Medical Center, 5000 W. National Avenue, Milwaukee, WI 53295, USA. Electronic address: blewis@mcw.edu.
Brian D
BD
Lewis
Department of Surgery, Office of Educational Services, Medical College of Wisconsin, 9200 W. Wisconsin Avenue, Milwaukee, WI 53226, USA.
Amy J
AJ
Leisten
Office of Academic Affairs, Medical College of Wisconsin, 9200 W. Wisconsin Avenue, Milwaukee, WI 53226, USA; Office of Educational Services, Medical College of Wisconsin, 9200 W. Wisconsin Avenue, Milwaukee, WI 53226, USA.
Robert
R
Treat
Department of Surgery, Office of Educational Services, Medical College of Wisconsin, 9200 W. Wisconsin Avenue, Milwaukee, WI 53226, USA; Clement J. Zablocki VA Medical Center, 5000 W. National Avenue, Milwaukee, WI 53295, USA; Office of Academic Affairs, Medical College of Wisconsin, 9200 W. Wisconsin Avenue, Milwaukee, WI 53226, USA.
Philip N
PN
Redlich
D002982:Clinical Clerkship; D002983:Clinical Competence; D003334:Coroners and Medical Examiners; D013043:Specialties, Surgical; D013044:Specialty Boards; D014481:United States
National Board of Medical Examiners; Site comparability; Surgery clerkship