Evaluation of The Medical Board Exam in Portugal

Authors

  • Tiago Reis Marques* * Co-Primeiro Autor Department of Psychosis Studies. Institute of Psychiatry, Psychology and Neuroscience. King's College. London.
  • Inês Laíns* * Co-Primeira Autora Massachusetts Eye and Ear. Harvard Medical School. Boston. United States. Centro Hospitalar e Universitário de Coimbra. Coimbra. Faculdade de Medicina. Universidade de Coimbra. Coimbra.
  • Maria João Martins Centro de Investigação em Neuropsicologia e Intervenção Cognitivo-Comportamental. Faculdade de Psicologia e Ciências da Educação. Universidade de Coimbra. Coimbra. Instituto de Psicologia Médica. Faculdade de Medicina. Universidade de Coimbra. Coimbra.
  • Francisco Goiana-da-Silva Department of Surgery and Cancer. Imperial College Medical School. London.
  • Filipa Sampaio Serviço de Oftalmologia. Hospital Pedro Hispano. Senhora da Hora. Unidade Local de Saúde de Matosinhos. Matosinhos.
  • Inês Pessanha Serviço de Cirurgia Pediátrica. Centro Hospitalar e Universitário de Coimbra. Coimbra.
  • Diogo Hipólito Fernandes Serviço de Oftalmologia. Centro Hospitalar de Lisboa Central. Lisboa.
  • Mariana Brandão Institut Jules Bordet et L’Université Libre de Bruxelles (U.L.B.). Brussels. Belgium. Instituto de Saúde Pública. Universidade do Porto. Porto.
  • Pedro Pinto Teixeira Serviço de Cardiologia. Centro Hospitalar de Lisboa Central. Lisboa.
  • Manuel de Oliveira Santos Faculdade de Medicina. Universidade de Coimbra. Coimbra. Serviço de Cardiologia. Centro Hospitalar e Universitário de Coimbra. Coimbra.
  • João Carlos Silva Serviço de Gastroenterologia. Centro Hospitalar Vila Nova de Gaia/Espinho. Porto.
  • João Carlos Ribeiro Faculdade de Medicina. Universidade de Coimbra. Coimbra. Serviço de Otorrinolaringologia. Centro Hospitalar e Universitário de Coimbra. Coimbra. Coimbra Institute for Clinical and Biomedical Research (iCBR). Coimbra.

DOI:

https://doi.org/10.20344/amp.10646

Keywords:

Education, Medical, Graduate, Educational Measurement, Internship and Residency, Models, Educational, Schools

Abstract

Introduction: There is a high heterogeneity in the structure of postgraduate medical training evaluation worldwide. However, in contrast to other countries, there have been no scientific studies of the final medical board examination, in Portugal. The present study aimed to evaluate the adequacy of the medical board examination including its validity as measured by its association with medical school grade average and national seriation examination.
Material and Methods: Cross-sectional, observational study. We analyzed the final results on the medical board examination of 2439 physicians, across 47 specialties, who completed their training in 2016 and 2017, using measures of central tendency and variability. We assessed the association between these grades and the national exam to initiate residency, and the grade average in Medical School.
Results: Measures of central tendency and variability, and consequent shape measures, revealed that the distribution of the scores of the final medical board exam is extremely negatively asymmetric and leptokurtic. A positive association was also found between the results in this exam and the score on national exam to initiate residency, and the grade average in Medical School.
Conclusion: Although the medical board examination was, in general, positively associated with scores on the national exam to initiate residency, and the mean final Medical School grades, thus indicating its potential validity, our results demonstrate that this exam presents no satisfactory discriminative capacity. Therefore, there is room to improve the actual postgraduate medical examination model, including changes in its classification system and potentially consider other assessment models.

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Published

2018-11-30

How to Cite

1.
Reis Marques* T, Laíns* I, Martins MJ, Goiana-da-Silva F, Sampaio F, Pessanha I, Fernandes DH, Brandão M, Pinto Teixeira P, Oliveira Santos M de, Silva JC, Ribeiro JC. Evaluation of The Medical Board Exam in Portugal. Acta Med Port [Internet]. 2018 Nov. 30 [cited 2024 Dec. 22];31(11):670-9. Available from: https://actamedicaportuguesa.com/revista/index.php/amp/article/view/10646

Issue

Vol. 31 No. 11 (2018): November

Section

Original

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