Learning Theories Versus Practice: How Do Internal Medicine Residents Study for Licensing Examinations?

Area of Science:

• Medical Education
• Cognitive Psychology

Background:

• Effective recall of medical knowledge is crucial for diagnosis and patient management.
• The dynamic nature of medical literature necessitates lifelong learning skills.
• Evidence-based learning strategies can enhance knowledge acquisition and retrieval.

Purpose of the Study:

• To evaluate the study habits of internal medicine residents.
• To determine if residents apply key learning strategies for American Board of Internal Medicine (ABIM) exam preparation.
• To review applicable learning strategies for residency curricula.

Main Methods:

• A web-based survey assessed study habits of internal medicine residents at Tufts Medical Center in 2019.
• The survey included 16 multiple-response questions.
• Resident postgraduate year (PGY) and Step 2 Clinical Knowledge (CK) scores were collected.

Main Results:

• A 92% response rate (69/75 residents) was achieved.
• Residents reported using spaced learning (67%), interleaving (64%), retrieval (64%), and elaboration (46%).
• Elaboration showed a significant association with Step 2 CK scores (p=0.017); other strategies did not.

Conclusions:

• A significant percentage of residents (33% of PGY-3s) felt unprepared for the ABIM exam.
• Current study habits may not fully equip residents for board certification.
• Integrating evidence-based learning strategies into residency curricula could enhance exam preparation.