Effect of the BASIC Examination on Knowledge Acquisition during Anesthesiology Residency

Area of Science:

• Medical Education
• Anesthesiology Training

Background:

• The American Board of Anesthesiology implemented the BASIC Examination as part of a new staged primary certification system.
• This examination is typically given to residents after their first year of clinical anesthesiology training.

Purpose of the Study:

• To test if the BASIC Examination accelerated knowledge acquisition in anesthesiology residents.
• To measure this acceleration using increments in annual In-Training Examination scores.

Main Methods:

• Longitudinal comparison of In-Training Examination performance across four resident cohorts (n=6,488).
• Analysis used mixed-effects models to account for covariates before and after the staged system introduction.

Main Results:

• Residents in the first staged cohort showed significantly greater score improvement between years 1 and 2 compared to previous cohorts.
• By their second year, these residents' scores matched those of third-year residents under the old system.
• A subsequent cohort also demonstrated improved scores between their base year and first clinical year.

Conclusions:

• The introduction of the BASIC Examination is linked to faster knowledge acquisition in residency.
• The staged examination system provides evidence of promoting desired educational outcomes in anesthesiology training.