Assessment of the Educational Value of Mock Oral Competency Exams for Surgical Interns

Limited data exist regarding mock oral competency exams (MOCEs) and their impact on junior surgery residents, who are commonly assessed with written posttest exams. The COVID-19 pandemic also affected surgical education. Therefore, we evaluated interns' perceived impact of MOCEs, including satisfaction compared with written posttest exams and the potential impact of the COVID-19 pandemic.

From 2017 through 2022, surgery interns participated in MOCEs consisting of two clinical scenarios per intern. Participants completed surveys evaluating the perceived impact of MCOEs using 5-point ordinal scales and yes/no responses. A positive response was defined as good, slightly better, excellent, significantly better, or yes.

Fifty-nine of 73 interns (80.8%) completed the survey; 54 (91.5%) reported that MOCEs provided an improved review of material compared with written posttest exams. This correlated with average positive ratings indicating MOCEs were a valued educational activity (98.3%), a personal challenge (89.8%), a dynamic quality teaching method (93.2%), beneficial through observation of colleagues' examinations (94.9%), and an improvement in knowledge and application of didactic material (84.7%) (Spearman ρ = 0.44, P < .001). The postpandemic cohort (N = 23) rated MOCEs as more valuable than the prepandemic cohort (n = 36) (mean 4.7 ± 0.4 vs mean 4.3 ± 0.5, P  = .004, Cohen d = 0.80).

MOCEs may serve as an effective tool for applying knowledge during the formative years of surgical training. Interns affected by COVID-19 reported higher perceived benefits, potentially reflecting increased importance of competency-based and in-person education. MOCEs warrant further study and may be valuable to incorporate early in residency training.