Evidence map›Paper›PMID 33897962›Full record

ArticleJournal of graduate medical education2021

The Feasibility of Blinding Residency Programs to USMLE Step 1 Scores During GME Application, Interview, and Match Processes.

Kathy W Smith, Richard Amini, Madhulika Banerjee, Conrad J Clemens

Abstract read
In one paragraph

Article in Journal of graduate medical education, 2021. The graph could read no effect estimate from its abstract, so it casts no vote on the map. Cited by 1 paper.

0numbers the graph read from it
0cells of the map it votes in
1citing papers in PubMed
–field-weighted citation impact
1 · What the graph read from it

What it found

Each row is one number read from the abstract, on the scale the paper reported it, with its interval. Left of the dashed line favours the treatment, right favours the comparator. Under each row is the sentence it came from. New to these charts? A ten-minute tutorial.

The abstract states no effect estimate the extractor could read, or names no intervention and outcome on the map, so this paper lights no cell and moves no belief. It is still indexed, cited and linked below.

2 · The registry

The trial behind it

Trials whose registry record cites this paper, or whose number appears in the abstract. A trial that started after this paper was published is citing it as background, not reporting it.

Neither the registry nor the abstract names a trial number. If this is a trial report, that itself is worth knowing.

3 · Its place in the literature

Who cites it

1 citing paper in PubMed.

  1. Article
4 · The record

Corrections and comments

PubMed lists nothing against this paper. Absence here is not a guarantee, only a check that was made.

5 · Who and what money

Authors and funding

4 authors.

Kathy W SmithAll authors are with the University of Arizona College of Medicine-Tucson.
Richard AminiAll authors are with the University of Arizona College of Medicine-Tucson.
Madhulika BanerjeeAll authors are with the University of Arizona College of Medicine-Tucson.
Conrad J ClemensAll authors are with the University of Arizona College of Medicine-Tucson.

Funding

No grant is acknowledged in the PubMed record.

6 · The paper itself

Abstract

backgroundWith the recent announcement that Step 1 score reporting will soon change to pass/fail, residency programs will need to reconsider their recruitment processes.

objectiveWe (1) evaluated the feasibility of blinding residency programs to applicants' Step 1 scores and their number of attempts throughout the recruitment process; (2) described the selection process that resulted from the blinding; and (3) reviewed if a program's initial rank list, created before scores were known, would be changed before submission for the Match.

methodsDuring the 2018-2019 and 2019-2020 recruitment seasons, all programs at a single sponsoring institution were invited to develop selection criteria in the absence of Step 1 data, and to remain blinded to this data throughout recruitment. Participating programs were surveyed to determine factors affecting feasibility and metrics used for residency selection. Once unblinded to Step 1 scores, programs had the option to change their initial rank lists.

resultsOf 24 residency programs, 4 participated (17%) in the first year: emergency medicine, neurology, pediatrics, and psychiatry. The second year had the same participants, with the addition of family and community medicine and radiation oncology (n = 6, 25%). Each program was able to determine mission-specific qualities in the absence of Step 1 data. In both years, one program made changes to the final rank list.

conclusionsIt was feasible for programs to establish metrics for residency recruitment in the absence of Step 1 data, and most programs made no changes to final rank lists after Step 1 scores were known.

Indexed as

Emergency MedicineInternship and ResidencyChildFeasibility StudiesHumansSurveys and Questionnaires

Identifiers

PMID33897962
PMCPMC8054599

What OpenQuestion holds

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Registered trials

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Read under generation 80e0d062 · epoch 390. Bibliography from PubMed, PubMed Central and OpenAlex; grants from NIH RePORTER; trial links from ClinicalTrials.gov; estimates, votes and beliefs from the OpenQuestion graph.