Exam Scoring

Interpreting ABFAS ITE Scores

The ABFAS In-training Examination (ITE) results reports help residents and residency program 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.

Score Reports for Non-final-year Residents

PGY-1 & 2 in three-year programs and PGY-3 in four-year programs

Results for residents who are not 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.

Each score report shows subscores for the didactic examination's subject areas and the CBPS examination's case management areas, with the total score shown at the bottom. Residents' individual scores are shown in the "Your Score" column. The total score is the most important score to consider, because it is the most reliable measure of the resident’s knowledge of all the subject areas.

The subscores are a less reliable measure of knowledge or ability level because there are too few items being tested in each area. However, these scores are a useful illustration of relative strengths and weaknesses among the subject and case management areas.

Performance in each subject and case management area factors into the total score, but each area is scored independently. Therefore, the total score is not simply the sum, or average, of all subject area scores (subscores).

Mean scores for PGY-1 & 2 provide a comparison of the resident’s performance relative to each PGY group. The mean scores are limited to ITEs administered in the same examination year.

Here are examples of the non-final-year ITE score reports:

Score Report for Residents Not in Their Final Year

CBPS Score Report

Score Reports for Final-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 ABFAS Part I 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:

Final Year ITE Score Report

Resources

In-training Examination Guide

Practice Didactic Exams

"Navigating the CBPS Exam" Video

"Tips for CBPS Success" Video