The first decade of the American Board of Internal Medicine certification in critical care medicine: An overview of examinees and certificate holdersfrom 1987 through 1996
Ra. Reshetar et al., The first decade of the American Board of Internal Medicine certification in critical care medicine: An overview of examinees and certificate holdersfrom 1987 through 1996, CRIT CARE M, 28(4), 2000, pp. 1191-1195
Overview: This study reviews the first decade of critical care medicine (CC
M) certification by the American Board of Internal Medicine (1987-1996), In
cluded are the characteristics of examinee and certificate-holder groups; e
xamination performances from different underlying disciplines of internal m
edicine, with or without formal CCM training; and the influence of backgrou
nd and a training program as correlates of examination performance.
Data Sources: The CCM certification examination has been offered biennially
since November 1987, Performance data on the American Board of Internal Me
dicine examinations in internal medicine and its subspecialties and added q
ualifications were available for candidates taking the CCM examinations. Fo
r examinees with formal CCM training, residency program director ratings, a
nd information regarding the program characteristics of size and percentage
of United States and Canadian medical graduates were also available.
Study Selection: All examinees who ever attempted certification were includ
ed in this study. The study cohort for each of the five examination adminis
trations consists of all first-time takers.
Conclusions: Cohort sizes have decreased since formal training became an ad
mission requirement in 1993, Percentages of International Medical Graduates
and women attempting and achieving certification have increased steadily.
Examination performance was positively associated with formal training, int
ernal medicine examination performance, recent medical training, and pulmon
ary disease certification. For those with formal training, performance was
also positively associated with training program director ratings of overal
l clinical competence and completion ct a training program with a higher pr
oportion of United States and Canadian medical graduates.