Rethinking the Initial Board Certification Exam

Greenky, David; Reddy, P S; George, Paul

doi:10.1007/s40670-021-01209-x

Cited by 2 publications

(3 citation statements)

References 10 publications

(11 reference statements)

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“…[ 27 ] Failing initial board certification examinations has been reported as contributing to physician suicide. [ 28 ] Considering that the ABA found a high prevalence of burnout, distress, and depression among residents, it is important to take measures to reduce them. [ 10 ] In a system where institutional support, work–life balance, strength of social support, workload, and student debt are impacting physician well-being, it is vital that the ABA removes untested layers of the multilayer anesthesiology initial board examinations, instead of increasing them.…”

Section: Discussionmentioning

confidence: 99%

US residents' perspectives on the introduction, conduct, and value of american board of anesthesiology's objective structured clinical examination-results of the 1^st nationwide questionnaire survey

Goudra

Guthal

2021

Anesth Essays Res

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Introduction: Passing the Objective Structured Clinical Examination (OSCE) is currently a requirement for the vast majority (not all) of candidates to gain American Board of Anesthesiology (ABA) initial certification. Many publications from the ABA have attempted to justify its introduction, conduct and value. However, the ABA has never attempted to understand the views of the residents. Methods: A total of 4237 residents at various training levels from 132 programs were surveyed by asking to fill a Google questionnaire prospectively between March 8th, 2021 and April 10th, 2021. Every potential participant was sent an original email followed by 2 reminders. Results: The overall response rate was 17.26% (710 responses to 4112 invitations). On a 5-point Likert scale with 1 as “very inaccurate” and 5 as “very accurate,” the mean accuracy of objective structured clinical examination (OSCE) in assessing communication skills and professionalism was 2.3 and 2.1 respectively. In terms of the usefulness of OSCE training for improving physicians' clinical practice, avoiding lawsuits, teaching effective communication with patients and teaching effective communication with other providers, the means on a 5-point Likert scale with 1 as “Not at all useful” and 5 as “Very useful” were 1.86, 1.69, 1.79, and 1.82 respectively. Residents unanimously thought that factors such as culture, race/ethnicity, religion and language adversely influence the assessment of communication skills. On a 5-point Likert scale with 1 as “not at all affected” and 5 as “very affected,” the corresponding scores were 3.45, 3.19, 3.89, and 3.18 respectively. Interestingly, nationality and political affiliation were also thought to influence this assessment, however, to a lesser extent. In addition, residents believed it is inappropriate to test non-cardiac anesthesiologists for TEE skills (2.39), but felt it was appropriate to test non-regional anesthesiologists in Ultrasound skills (3.29). Lastly, nearly 80% of the residents think that money was the primary motivating factor behind ABA's introduction of the OSCE. Over 96% residents think that OSCE should be stalled, either permanently scrapped (60.8%) or paused (35.8%). Conclusions: Anesthesiology residents in the United States overwhelmingly indicated that the OSCE does not serve any useful purpose and should be immediately halted.

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Section: Discussionmentioning

confidence: 99%

US residents' perspectives on the introduction, conduct, and value of american board of anesthesiology's objective structured clinical examination-results of the 1^st nationwide questionnaire survey

Goudra

Guthal

2021

Anesth Essays Res

View full text Add to dashboard Cite

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“…Similarly, in addition to teaching, virtual reality models could be utilized to standardize competencies for surgical trainees. Although certain qualifications are required for certification in surgical specialties, such as board exams, these fail to capture the quality of a trainee's surgical skills [78]. As the evidence for effectively evaluating physicians is lacking, virtual reality could augment written exams and facilitate the implementation of practical examinations without compromising patient care [78].…”

Section: Future Directions: Avenues To Improve Currently Existing Vir...mentioning

confidence: 99%

“…Although certain qualifications are required for certification in surgical specialties, such as board exams, these fail to capture the quality of a trainee's surgical skills [78]. As the evidence for effectively evaluating physicians is lacking, virtual reality could augment written exams and facilitate the implementation of practical examinations without compromising patient care [78]. In doing so, there would be a standardization of competencies that all trainees would have to demonstrate before becoming board-certified.…”

Section: Future Directions: Avenues To Improve Currently Existing Vir...mentioning

confidence: 99%

The Use of Virtual Reality in Surgical Training: Implications for Education, Patient Safety, and Global Health Equity

Laspro,

Groysman,

Verzella

et al. 2023

Surgeries

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As medicine becomes more complex, there is pressure for new and more innovative educational methods. Given the economic burden associated with in-person simulation, healthcare, including the realm of surgical education, has begun employing virtual reality (VR). Potential benefits of the addition of VR to surgical learning include increased pre-operative resident exposure to surgical techniques and procedures and better patient safety outcomes. However, these new technological advances, such as VR, may not replicate organic tissues or accurately simulate medical care and surgical scenarios, creating unrealistic pseudo-environments. Similarly, while advancements have been made, there are ongoing disparities concerning the utilization of these technologies. These disparities include aspects such as the availability of stable internet connections and the cost of implementing these technologies. In accordance with other innovative technologies, VR possesses upfront economic costs that may preclude equitable use in different academic centers around the world. As such, VR may further widen educational quality between high- and low-resource nations. This analysis integrates recent innovations in VR technology with existing discourse on global health and surgical equality. In doing so, it offers preliminary guidance to ensure that the implementation of VR occurs in an equitable, safe, and sustainable fashion.

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Rethinking the Initial Board Certification Exam

Cited by 2 publications

References 10 publications

US residents' perspectives on the introduction, conduct, and value of american board of anesthesiology's objective structured clinical examination-results of the 1^st nationwide questionnaire survey

US residents' perspectives on the introduction, conduct, and value of american board of anesthesiology's objective structured clinical examination-results of the 1^st nationwide questionnaire survey

The Use of Virtual Reality in Surgical Training: Implications for Education, Patient Safety, and Global Health Equity

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Rethinking the Initial Board Certification Exam

Cited by 2 publications

References 10 publications

US residents' perspectives on the introduction, conduct, and value of american board of anesthesiology's objective structured clinical examination-results of the 1st nationwide questionnaire survey

US residents' perspectives on the introduction, conduct, and value of american board of anesthesiology's objective structured clinical examination-results of the 1st nationwide questionnaire survey

The Use of Virtual Reality in Surgical Training: Implications for Education, Patient Safety, and Global Health Equity

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Product

Resources

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US residents' perspectives on the introduction, conduct, and value of american board of anesthesiology's objective structured clinical examination-results of the 1^st nationwide questionnaire survey

US residents' perspectives on the introduction, conduct, and value of american board of anesthesiology's objective structured clinical examination-results of the 1^st nationwide questionnaire survey