Exam Scoring
Interpreting the ABFAS In-training Examination Scores
The In-training Examinations (ITE) results reports help residents and directors understand how a resident’s examination performance changes over the course of their residency training. The reports also provide a comparison to others in the same group of examinees.
Results become available on PRR 6-8 weeks after the examination window has closed. Residency directors have access to the same PRR results reports as individual residents in their program. Reports can be viewed directly on PRR and downloaded.
Results for Residents Not in Their Final Year
PGY 1-2 in three-year programs and PGY 3 in four-year programs
Numeric Results Results for residents who are not yet in their final year of residency are reported as numeric scaled scores. Raw scores are transformed to scaled scores so they will be comparable across different administrations of the examination. The range of the ITE scaled scores is 200-800. There is no pass/fail result reported for these ITEs.
Comparing ITE Scores to Board Qualification Exam Scores It is important to note that the Board Qualification examination scores are on the same scale and range as the ITEs. As of September 2020, the minimum score required to pass each Board Qualification examination is 500.
Didactic Score Reports Here is an example of an ITE didactic score report:
Your total score is a reliable measure of overall didactic knowledge in Foot or RRA surgery. The subject area scores are less reliable because there are too few items being tested in each subject area, but they do show the resident’s relative strengths and weaknesses between subject areas. Note that the total score is not simply the sum, nor average, of all subject area scores because each subject area is weighted differently.
The PGY means are the average scores for all residents who have taken the ITE during the same year.
CBPS Score Reports
Here is an example of an ITE CBPS score report:
Your total score is a reliable measure of overall case management skills in Foot or RRA surgery.
Mean scores for each CBPS subject area are not given because of the small number of items given for each case. Instead, the CBPS examination score report shows how the resident performed relative to the average of all others who have taken the CBPS examination during the same examination year. This is reported in each subject area as either “above,” “below,” or at the “average” of all other examinees in the same PGY group.
Results Reports for Final Post-graduate Year Residents
PGY 3 in three-year programs and PGY 4 in four-year programs
Why Numeric Scores are Not Reported
During their final year, residents take examinations that are psychometrically equivalent to the Board Qualification examinations. Residents may seek credit for satisfying the Board Qualification examination requirement for any final-year ITE on which they score at least 500.
Since the final-year ITE scores could be interpreted as being equivalent to Board Qualification examination scores, numeric score data in PRR is restricted. This protects the privacy of residents and prevents misuse of numeric score data. Board Qualification examination numeric score data is similarly restricted.
Interpreting Results
Results are reported simply as “Pass” or “Fail.” An overall result of “Pass” indicates that a total score of at least 500 has been achieved. In each of the subject areas a “Pass” indicates that the score is within a passing range, and a “Fail” is within a failing range.
Final Year residents with an overall result of Fail on any of the examinations may access numeric score reports through their ABFAS profiles. These score reports include numeric score data to help prepare residents for their Board Qualification examinations. These reports are confidential and made available only to the resident. Residency directors do not have access to these score reports.
Here are examples of the final-year results reports available in PRR:
