A study of the ability of physician faculty members to predict resident performance

The ability of 22 faculty preceptors from three family practice programs to predict residents' cognitive levels was examined using the Composite and Clinical Set Problem scores of the American Board of Family Practice In-Training Exam (ITE) as standard measures. Seven of the 22 preceptors had significant positive correlations for both criterion measures, while seven of 22 did not correlate at a significant level for either. Examination of the two extreme groups found significantly different group means when the number of years of teaching experience was the dependent variable. The good predictors had 6.28 +/- SD 3.90 years of experience versus 2.71 +/- SD 2.02 years for low predictors. The authors conclude from these results that years of experience is an important factor in the preceptor's ability to assess cognitive levels. The authors speculate that the inability to accurately assess a trainee's knowledge may negatively affect resident-preceptor interactions.