Retrospective Evaluation of Residents' American Board of Surgery In-Service Training Examination (ABSITE) Scores as a Tool to Evaluate Changes Made in a Basic Science Curriculum

OBJECTIVE: To evaluate the effectiveness of a new basic science curriculum at a university-affiliated general surgery residency program. DESIGN: A retrospective evaluation of general surgery residents' American Board of Surgery (ABS) In-Training Examination (ABSITE) scores before and after the implementation of a new basic science curriculum. SETTING: Not-for-profit tertiary referral center with a university-affiliated Accreditation Council for Graduate Medical Education (ACGME) accredited community general surgery residency program. PARTICIPANTS: Postgraduate year (PGY) 1 through 5 general surgical residents. RESULTS: The total questions answered correctly (percent correct) in the main 3 categories improved after implementation of the new curriculum for PGY 1 (total test: 70 +/- 7 vs 60 +/- 9, p < 0.05; clinical science: 71 +/- 10 vs 59 +/- 9, p < 0.05; and basic science: 69 +/- 7 vs 60 +/- 10, p = 0.0003) and for PGY 2 residents (total test: 74 +/- 5 vs 66 +/- 7, p < 0.05; clinical science: 74 +/- 7 vs 66 +/- 8, p = 0.003; and basic science: 74 +/- 5 vs 66 +/- 8, p < 0.05). With the exception of the percentage of clinical questions answered correctly for the PGY 4 level, there was no statistically significant worsening of scores in any other subcategories for any other PGY levels (3 through 5) after implementation of the new program. Before the institution of the new curriculum, 24% (26/110) of residents scored below the 35th percentile, and after the institution of the new curriculum, this number decreased to 12% (12/98), p = 0.006. The first-time passage rate on the ABS Qualifying Examination was unchanged in the period before and after the implementation of the new curriculum (89% vs 86%; p = 0.08). When comparing the bimonthly quizzes with the ABSITE, the correlation coefficient was 0.34. CONCLUSION: After the implementation of a new basic science curriculum organized and directed by the faculty, there were statistically significant improvements of PGY 1 and 2 residents' ABSITE scores. (J Surg 67:167-172. (C) 2010 Association of Program Directors in Surgery. Published by Elsevier Inc. All rights reserved.)