Correlation between radiology resident rotation performance and examination scores

The authors' purpose was to determine whether there is a relationship between subjective assessment of radiology resident performance on individual rotations and objective assessment of radiology resident performance on the American College of Radiology (ACR) in-training and American Board of Radiology (ABR) written examinations.

Records of 81 radiology residents completing their residency 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 obtained on the annual ACR in-training examinations during the first 3 years of residency and of the written portion of the ABR examination taken during the 4th year of residency were also determined. Rotation evaluation scores were then compared to examination scores obtained during the same year of residency, and correlation coefficients were obtained.

In the 2nd, 3rd, and 4th years of radiology residency, there is positive correlation between rotation evaluation scores and overall scores from the corresponding ACR in-training examination and written portion of the ABR examination taken during the same year. In contrast, in the 1st year of residency, resident rotation evaluation scores do not correlate with ACR in-training examination scores.

Residents who are perceived as doing well on their rotations after the 1st year of residency are more likely to do well on standardized written examinations.