APGO

Emily C. Holden, MD Beth Israel Deaconess Medical Center, Boston, Massachusetts

Objective: The primary objective of this study was to determine if there is a correlation between United States Medical Licensing Examinations (USMLE) step 1, USMLE step 2 and post-graduate year (PGY) 4 Council on Resident Education in Obstetrics and Gynecology in-training examination (CREOG-ITE) performance on pass/failure rates of the American Board of Obstetrics and Gynecology (ABOG) written board examination taken at the end of residency.

Methods: This study was a retrospective review. We collected de-identified available data of residents graduating from our institution from 1999 to2012 including USMLE step 1 and 2, CREOG scores, and ABOG written exam scores. Data are presented as proportions or median (interquartile range).

Results: During 1999-2012, 70 residents graduated from the program. There were a total of 45 (64.3%) residents whose PGY4 CREOG results and ABOG written results were available for this study. ABOG results were available for 25 (35.7%) residents with USMLE 1 and 23 (32.9%) residents with USMLE 2 scores. The median USMLE 1 score was 224.0 (204.0-231.0), the median USMLE 2 score was 239.0 (221.0-247.0) and the median PGY4 CREOG score was 218.0 (208.0-231.0). There were a total of 3 failures of the written ABOG exam during the study period. Of the 25 residents for whom we had the USMLE 1 and ABOG scores available there were a total of 2 failures of the written ABOG exam. Both of these failures occurred in residents whose USMLE 1 sores were in the lowest quartile. Of the 23 residents for whom we had the USMLE 2 and ABOG scores available, there were 2 failures of the written ABOG exam. Both of these failures occurred in residents whose USMLE 2 scores were in the lowest quartile. All 3 failures occurred in residents with PGY4 CREOG scores in the lowest quartile. There was a statistically significant moderate correlation between USMLE 1 and PGY4 CREOG scores (r=0.48, p=0.02), as well as between the USLME 2 and PGY4 CREOG scores (r=0.52, p=0.01).

Conclusion: Each resident who failed his or her written ABOG examination was found to have had previous USMLE 1, USMLE 2 and PGY4 CREOG scores in the lowest quartile. It may be beneficial to consider extra intervention for residents who have USMLE or CREOG standardized test scores in the lowest quartile prior to taking his or her ABOG written examination. Our data set is limited by the small number of residents’ scores we had available, as well as the small number of failures within our group.