Evidence map›Paper›PMID 41141361›Full record

ArticleAEM education and training2025

Declining Performance on American Board of Emergency Medicine Written Examinations.

Earl J Reisdorff, Samuel M Keim, Diane L Gorgas, Suzanne R White, John L Kendall, Kathleen C Ruff, Felix K Ankel, Susan E Farrell, Yvette Calderon, Michael Gottlieb and 3 more

Abstract read
In one paragraph

Article in AEM education and training, 2025. 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

13 authors.

Earl J ReisdorffAmerican Board of Emergency Medicine East Lansing Michigan USA.
Samuel M KeimDepartment of Emergency Medicine The University of Arizona College of Medicine Tucson Arizona USA.
Diane L GorgasDepartment of Emergency Medicine Ohio State College of Medicine Columbus Ohio USA.
Suzanne R WhiteDepartment of Emergency Medicine Wayne State University Detroit Michigan USA.
John L KendallDepartment of Emergency Medicine Stanford School of Medicine, Stanford University Standford California USA.
Kathleen C RuffAmerican Board of Emergency Medicine East Lansing Michigan USA.
Felix K AnkelDepartment of Emergency Medicine Regions Hospital St. Paul Minnesota USA.
Susan E FarrellDepartment of Emergency Medicine Brigham and Women's Hospital Boston Massachusetts USA.
Yvette CalderonIcahn School of Medicine, Mount Sinai Health System New York New York City USA.
Michael GottliebAmerican Board of Emergency Medicine East Lansing Michigan USA.ORCID https://orcid.org/0000-0003-3276-8375
Yachana BhaktaAmerican Board of Emergency Medicine East Lansing Michigan USA.
Melissa A BartonAmerican Board of Emergency Medicine East Lansing Michigan USA.ORCID https://orcid.org/0009-0005-9181-2235
Kevin B JoldersmaAmerican Board of Emergency Medicine East Lansing Michigan USA.

Funding

No grant is acknowledged in the PubMed record.

6 · The paper itself

Abstract

Introduction: Emergency medicine (EM) is at a critical juncture with pervasive boarding and overcrowding, a rapid rise in new residency programs, and continuing recovery from the COVID-19 pandemic. These factors could all potentially impact trainees' learning experiences. To explore how this has influenced trainee knowledge acquisition, we analyzed the trends in the American Board of Emergency Medicine (ABEM) In-training Examination (ITE) and the written Qualifying Examination (QE). Methods: This was a retrospective study of multiyear performance trends for the ITE (2018-2024) and QE (2019-2024). Only ITE results from residents in categorical ACGME-accredited EM programs were included. ITE performance was the aggregate mean scaled (equated) scores of all EM training levels. The measures for QE performance were the mean scaled scores (equated) and the pass rates. For each test, descriptive statistics were reported and an omnibus analysis of variance (ANOVA) comparing scores across years was computed. When an ANOVA result was statistically significant ( Results: For the ITE, there were 61,512 test results, of which 59,075 (96.0%) met inclusion criteria. The mean (SD) scaled ITE scores declined from 77.36 (8.85) in 2018 to 72.19 (9.44) in 2024. The ANOVA for the ITE scaled scores was statistically significant ( Conclusions: Physician performance on the ABEM ITE has steadily declined since 2018; performance on the QE has declined since 2019. Future research is needed to understand and address the potential causes of these trends.

Identifiers

PMID41141361
PMCPMC12552112

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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.