Special Articles
Development and Growth of a Large Multispecialty Certification Examination: Sleep Medicine Certification—Results of the First Three Examinations
http://dx.doi.org/10.5664/jcsm.1790
Stuart F. Quan, M.D.1,2; Daniel J. Buysse, M.D.3; Sally L. Davidson Ward, M.D.4; Susan M. Harding, M.D.5; Conrad Iber, M.D.6; Vishesh K. Kapur, M.D., M.P.H.7; James A. Rowley, M.D.8; Michael J. Sateia, M.D.9; Michael H. Silber, MB.Ch.B.10; Adam J. Sorscher, M.D.11; Bradley V. Vaughn, M.D.12; Manisha Witmans, M.D.13; B. Tucker Woodson, M.D.14; Phyllis Zee, M.D., Ph.D.15; Linda E. Mills, M.A.16; Brian J. Hess, Ph.D.16
1Division of Sleep Medicine, Harvard Medical School, Boston, MA; 2Arizona Respiratory Center, University of Arizona, Tucson, AZ; 3Department of Psychiatry, University of Pittsburgh, Pittsburgh, PA; 4Division of Pediatric Pulmonology, Children's Hospital Los Angeles, and Keck School of Medicine, University of Southern California, Los Angeles, CA; 5UAB Sleep-Wake Disorders Center, University of Alabama at Birmingham, Birmingham, AL; 6Fairview Sleep Center at the University of Minnesota Medical Center, Minneapolis, MN; 7Division of Pulmonary & Critical Care Medicine, University of Washington, Seattle, WA; 8Division of Pulmonary, Critical Care, and Sleep Medicine, Wayne State University School of Medicine, Detroit, MI; 9Department of Psychiatry, Dartmouth Medical School, Hanover, NH; 10Department of Neurology and Center for Sleep Medicine, Mayo Clinic College of Medicine, Rochester, MN; 11Department of Psychiatry, Dartmouth Medical School, Hanover, NH; 12Department of Neurology, University of North Carolina, Chapel Hill, NC; 13Department of Paediatrics, University of Alberta, Edmonton, Alberta, Canada, and Stollery Children's Hospital, Edmonton, Alberta, Canada; 14Department of Otolaryngology and Human Communication, Medical College of Wisconsin, Milwaukee, WI; 15Center for Sleep & Circadian Biology, and Institute for Neuroscience, Northwestern University, Chicago, IL; 16American Board of Internal Medicine, Philadelphia, PA
This paper summarizes the results of the first three examinations (2007, 2009, and 2011) of the Sleep Medicine Certification Examination, administered by its six sponsoring American Board of Medical Specialty Boards. There were 2,913 candidates who took the 2011 examination through one of three pathways—self-attested practice experience, previous certification by the American Board of Sleep Medicine, or formal Sleep Medicine fellowship training. The 2011 exam was the last administration in which candidates who had not previously been admitted could take it without completion of formal Sleep Medicine fellowship training. As expected, the number of candidates admitted to the 2011 examination through the practice experience pathway increased, and the overall scores of these candidates were on average lower than the other candidates. Consequently, the pass rate for all first takers of the 2011 examination (65%) was lower than that observed from the 2009 examination (78%) and the 2007 examination (73%). For each administration, candidates admitted through the fellowship training pathway scored the highest; over 90% of them passed the 2011 and 2009 examinations.
Citation:
Quan SF; Buysse DJ; Ward SLD; Harding SM; Iber C; Kapur VK; Rowley JA; Sateia MJ; Silber MH; Sorscher AJ; Vaughn BV; Witmans M; Woodson BT; Zee P; Mills LE; Hess BJ. Development and growth of a large multispecialty certification examination: sleep medicine certification—results of the first three examinations. J Clin Sleep Med 2012;8(2):221-224.
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