NATIONAL BOARD OF MEDICAL EXAMINERS® (NBME®)
Serving the Public Through Evaluation of Healthcare Professionals Worldwide
OVERVIEW OF NBME SERVICES AND ASSESSMENTS FOR MEDICAL SCHOOLS AND
STUDENTS
Agata P. Butler, PhD Vice President, NBME
Serve the assessment needs of medical schools by providing high-quality assessment tools as well as information and assistance to medical educators
NBME Subject Exam Program
NBME Subject Tests: Basic Science Exams
Gross Anatomy (+/-Embryology) Histology & Cell Biology Biochemistry Physiology (+/- Neurophysiology) Neuroscience (+/- Neuropath, Neuropharm) Behavioral Sciences Microbiology (+/- Immunology) Pharmacology Pathology Introduction to Clinical Diagnosis
NBME Subject Tests: Clinical Science Exams
Ambulatory Medicine Family Medicine (modular) Internal Medicine Clinical Neurology Obstetrics & Gynecology Pediatrics Psychiatry Surgery
Core Clerkship Exams
NBME Subject Tests: Clinical Science Exams
Internal Medicine (2009) Surgery (2010) Pediatrics (2011) Emergency Medicine (2013)
Advanced Clinical Exams
NBME Subject Tests: Comprehensive Exams
Comprehensive Basic Science Examination
Comprehensive Clinical Science Examination
Used by many medical schools as end-of-course and end-of-clerkship exams National norms and descriptive information
of students at the same stage of training
Multiple parallel forms of exam available Test scores are equated and can be directly
compared over time
NBME Subject Exam Program
High-quality, USMLE-like items that have been
carefully reviewed and pretested Items written by a "national faculty" (USMLE Test Committees) Gives students practice for USMLE
NBME Subject Exam Program
Report performance profiles to schools for individual examinees taking the comprehensive subject exams, clinical science exams, and web-based basic science exams.
Performance Profiles
Student Performance Profile
Provide a look-up table for schools and students to use as a benchmark on passing USMLE (comparable score)
Look-up Table
A table provides approximate performance equivalents for USMLE Step 1, making it possible to translate the CBSE score to the scale used for USMLE Step 1.
Web-Based Subject Exams
Transitioned subject tests from a paper format to web-based platform Enhance security Streamline score reporting Provide new opportunities for growth
NBME provides test administration software that
provides a mechanism for the school to use laptop and/or desktop computers
“locks” the browser, preventing examinees from copying screens or communicating exam content
enables the Proctor to open exam access, monitor examinee progress and control other aspects of the test administration
New Directions in 2012
NBME subject examinations are now available at Prometric Test Centers Initially limited to the comprehensive and
clinical science subject tests
Future Directions
Include pretest items in subject tests Include multimedia in items Pilot modular tests
Collaborate with schools and faculty in developing new and innovative item types
Faculty members can access the NBME item bank to design an assessment to fit their needs
Customized Assessment Services
Customized Assessment Services: Uses
In-course tests Mid-term exams
End-of-course tests Individual discipline-based courses Individual organ-system blocks
Integrated, tests End-of-semester/block exams
Basic science progress tests
Self-assessment services provided directly to students Comprehensive Basic Science (Step 1) Comprehensive Clinical Science (Step 2 CK) Comprehensive Clinical Medicine (Step 3 MCQ)
NBME Self-Assessment Services
NBME Self-Assessment Services
Designed to reflect the format and content coverage of USMLE
Provided as a service to students and can be taken via the web at any time and from any location that the examinee chooses
CBSSA: Sample Performance Profile
A table provides approximate performance equivalents for USMLE Step 1, making it possible to translate the CBSSA score to the scale used for USMLE Step 1.
Recent Research Publication on NSAS
12,224 U.S. and Canadian medical students Completed an English version of the CBSSA exam between
12/06 and 12/08 Took the exam under standard-paced conditions First Step 1 attempt was on or before 11/17/09.
The most recent CBSSA prior to their first Step 1 attempt and first Step 1 score was used
CBSSA performance is strongly related to Step 1 performance (67 – 69% of variance in Step 1 scores explained by CBSSA)
Research Publications on NSAS
Using the NBME Self-Assessments to Predict Performance on USMLE Step 1 and Step 2: Impact of Test Administration Conditions. Academic Medicine. Vol. 70. No. 10. October/Supplement 2004.
Relationship Between Performance on the NBME Comprehensive Basic Sciences Self-Assessment and USMLE Step 1 for US and Canadian Medical School Students. Academic Medicine. 85(10):S98-S101, October 2010.
Content Feedback
Longitudinal Performance Profile Performance profile graphically displays
the relative strengths and weaknesses in general content areas as horizontal bars
Enhance feedback to display the performance bar for each content area vertically with each column (bar) of the report identified to show progress over multiple testing sessions
Longitudinal Performance Profile
New: Clinical Science Mastery Series
New self-assessments for the clinical science subject examinations
Two, 50-item forms for each of the following:
Clinical Neurology Medicine Obstetrics/Gynecology Pediatrics Psychiatry Surgery
Content Feedback for Psychiatry Self-Assessment
A table provides approximate performance equivalents for the Medicine Subject Test, making it possible to translate the self-assessment score to the scale used for the Medicine Subject Test.
Future Directions: Enhance Feedback for Students
Enhance feedback regarding timing and pacing for the self-assessments
Enhance score reports with more specific feedback about the items
Provide opportunity for students to review the questions and answers after the test for customized assessments
To learn more about the
National Board of Medical Examiners, visit us at
www.nbme.org
Performance on Most Recent CBSSA, First Step 1, and Pass/Fail Outcomes
Group N
CBSSA Step 1
Mean
SD
Mean
SD
% Passing
Study Sample 12,224 456 109 225 21 96.5%
All US/Canadian Examinees 57,329 221 23 93.1%
CBSSA Attempts N
Percent of Study
Sample
CBSSA Score Step 1 Score
Mean SD Mean SD
1 6489 53% 438 110 224 21
2 3546 29% 466 103 225 21
3 1402 12% 484 105 227 21
4 602 5% 503 108 230 21
5 113 1% 525 115 232 23
6 65 <1% 550 94 236 19
CBSSA and Step 1 Performance by Number of CBSSA Takes
Model Summary
Model R R Square
Adjusted R Square
Std. Error of the Estimate
1 .819(a) .671 .671 12.140
2 .828(b) .685 .685 11.875
3 .831 (c) .691 .691 11.762
a. Predictors: (Constant), LAST_CBSSA_BF_STEP1
b. Predictors: (Constant), LAST_CBSSA_BF_STEP1, NUM_DAYS _BET_STEP1
c. Predictors: (Constant), LAST_CBSSA_BF_STEP1, NUM_DAYS__STEP1, NUM_CBSSA_TAKES_BF_STEP1
Stepwise Multiple Regression
Dependent variable: First Step 1 score Independent variables:
Most recent CBSSA before first Step 1 attempt Number of days between most recent CBSSA and first
Step 1 attempt Mean = 14 days Median = 8 days Mode = 7 days
Number of CBSSA takes before first Step 1
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