Posted on 02/25/2025 8:30:18 AM PST by karpov
How do we know whether newly minted doctors have what it takes to prevent patient deaths?
After completing residency training, graduating physicians typically take board certification exams at the time they enter practice — but surprisingly little is known about the ability of these standard tests to predict the things that count the most in a doctor’s performance, such as how likely their patients are to survive or to avoid a return trip to the hospital.
A new study, published May 6 in JAMA, found that internal medicine patients of newly trained physicians with top scores on the board certification exam — a comprehensive test usually taken after a physician completes residency training — had lower risk of dying within seven days of hospital admission or of being readmitted to the hospital.
The analysis was led by researchers at Harvard Medical School and the American Board of Internal Medicine (ABIM), the body that developed and regularly updates the exam that qualifies a physician as an internal medicine specialist. Some of the study authors, including lead author Bradley Gray, are employed by ABIM.
The findings, the team said, provide reassurance that the board exams in internal medicine are reflective of future physician performance on critical indicators of patient care and outcomes.
“These results confirm that certification exams are measuring knowledge that directly translates into improved outcomes for patients,” said study senior author Bruce Landon, professor of health care policy at HMS and an internal medicine doctor at Beth Israel Deaconess Medical Center.
Landon and colleagues said this is among the first known attempts to gauge the reliability of test scores in predicting patient outcomes.
The researchers also compared patient outcomes against “medical milestone” ratings developed by the Accreditation Council for Graduate Medical Education (ACGME).
(Excerpt) Read more at hms.harvard.edu ...
Well, duh.
Another astounding research breakthrough.
This is good. How do the various races score on the exams? How do the scores of black students compare to whites and Asians?
We know about MCAT scores alone to answer that.
duh
I will give you a very important component.
I have a very rare disease. My Doctor had never heard of it. But once I was able to figure out the issue with help of internet he has been willing to order tests that many of the people who have this can’t get...especially those that have it overseas..and ESPECIALLY those that have it in countries who pay for health care. One exception appears to be Saudi Arabia. You can get a lot of tests but they have a problem with getting Saudi to pay for out of country care for treatment
So willingness to listen and adaptability is key.
The boards are an entirely different beast. While medical schools might go all DEI and now have a participation trophy, although starting to trickle in on some boards, the board certification is still a comprehensive assessment of that specialty’s knowledge. There are a few boards which after you pass the written, that is the ticket to an oral examination as it is with my board. The oral’s are even more difficult than the written. It requires you to communicate with purpose under pressure with at least 3 examiners reading not only your knowledge but your body language.
One thing is for sure, once you have board certification, each board states that this confers the title on the diplomate as expert in the field.
There’s also the issue that the best residents may get assigned the more seriously ill patients.
Only accept healthy patients with relatively minor ailments, and you’re in like flint.
That’s why we avoid going to “certain” PCPs.
Meds schools are shot. They need reinvented.
You want medical students tracked by race?
But not individually.
I saw a young, White male doctor at an urgent care clinic yesterday. Seemed like a good doctor. Very personable. I told him what I wanted and he prescribed it for me. What was really surprising, getting off topic, was that my cost for 10 500 mg. amoxicillin and a 6 day pack of prednisone was $2.62. The doctor told me they had a pharmacy on site and he thought the cost would be “about 515”, but they didn’t take insurance. I thought he meant $515. Now I think he meant $5.15. I left him with the impression that I couldn’t afford $5.15.
So I advise anyone trying to link death rate of patients to a doctors ability to heal his patient when you check out Doctors at cancer clinics. Their success rate is terrible.
“We know about MCAT scores alone to answer that.” My daughter is a medical doctor, she has told me that she works with a number of doctors who did not pass the MCAT exam on their first attempt.
What do they call someone who finishes last in the class at med school?
“Doctor”.
(name that movie)
There is no set passing score for the MCAT. It’s like the SAT and college admissions — a higher score increases your chance of being admitted to medical school.
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