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The Change of USMLE Step 1 to Pass/Fail: Perspectives of the Surgery Program Director.


ABSTRACT:

Objective

This study sought to evaluate the perspectives of surgical program directors regarding the change of USMLE Step 1 to pass/fail grading.

Design

Validated electronic survey.

Setting

Vanderbilt University Medical Center Department of Plastic Surgery.

Participants

Program directors of all ACMGE-accredited General Surgery, Integrated Vascular Surgery, Integrated Thoracic Surgery, and Integrated Plastic Surgery residency programs.

Results

The overall response rate was 55.5%. Most PDs (78.1%) disagreed with the scoring change. Only 19.6% believe this change will improve medical student well-being. For 63.5% of PDs, medical school pedigree will become more important, and 52.7% believe it will place international medical graduates at a disadvantage. Only 6.2% believe Step 2 CK should also be pass/fail, while 88.7% will increase the weight of Step 2 CK and 88.4% will now require Step 2 CK score submission with the electronic residency application service.

Conclusions

While well-intentioned, changing USMLE Step 1 to pass/fail may have unintended consequences and may disadvantage certain groups of applicants. The emphasis on Step 1, and resulting test-taking apprehension, will likely shift to Step 2 CK. Proponents of equitable evaluation should direct their efforts toward increasing, not decreasing, the number of objective measures available for student assessment.

SUBMITTER: Pontell ME 

PROVIDER: S-EPMC7347473 | biostudies-literature | 2021 Jan-Feb

REPOSITORIES: biostudies-literature

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Publications

The Change of USMLE Step 1 to Pass/Fail: Perspectives of the Surgery Program Director.

Pontell Matthew E ME   Makhoul Alan T AT   Ganesh Kumar Nishant N   Drolet Brian C BC  

Journal of surgical education 20200710 1


<h4>Objective</h4>This study sought to evaluate the perspectives of surgical program directors regarding the change of USMLE Step 1 to pass/fail grading.<h4>Design</h4>Validated electronic survey.<h4>Setting</h4>Vanderbilt University Medical Center Department of Plastic Surgery.<h4>Participants</h4>Program directors of all ACMGE-accredited General Surgery, Integrated Vascular Surgery, Integrated Thoracic Surgery, and Integrated Plastic Surgery residency programs.<h4>Results</h4>The overall respo  ...[more]

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