Correlation between radiology resident rotation performance and examination scores

Rationale and Objectives. The authors' purpose was to determine whether the re is a relationship between subjective assessment of radiology resident pe rformance on individual rotations and objective assessment of radiology res ident performance on the American College of Radiology (ACR) in-training an d American Board of Radiology (ABR) written examinations. Materials and Methods. Records of 81 radiology residents completing their r esidency between 1991 and 2000 were reviewed. Mean scores from all rotation evaluation forms obtained during the study period were calculated for each residency year. The means of the overall raw scores and percentiles obtain ed on the annual ACR in-training examinations during the first 3 years of r esidency and of the written portion of the ABR examination taken during the 4th year of residency were also determined. Rotation evaluation scores wer e then compared to examination scores obtained during the same year of resi dency, and correlation coefficients were obtained. Results. In the 2nd, 3rd, and 4th years of radiology residency, there is po sitive correlation between rotation evaluation scores and overall scores fr om the corresponding ACR in-training examination and written portion of the ABR examination taken during the same year. In contrast, in the 1st year o f residency, resident rotation evaluation scores do not correlate with ACR in-training examination scores. Conclusion. Residents who are perceived as doing well on their rotations af ter the 1st year of residency are more likely to do well on standardized wr itten examinations.