Relationships between clinical competence ratings and examination performance.

Relationships between faculty ratings and performance on components of the National Board of Medical Examiners Certifying Examination for Primary Care Physician's Assistants were investigated. A factor analysis of the clinical competence rating form yielded three discrete factors. Results of tests of simple relationships between each rating factor and examination component indicated that four of the six examination components correlated significantly though modestly with at least one of the rating scale factors. The results of multiple regression analyses indicated complex relationships between each of two examination components and the set of rating factors. One implication is that faculty members are able to make discrete judgments about students on more than one dimension.