BACKGROUND: Studies of retention of basic science information have commonly demonstrated a knowledge decline as students progress through medical education. This study examined item characteristics influencing patterns of retention. METHOD: A large content and statistically representative sample of basic science items from 2004-2005 forms of United States Medical Licensing Examination (USMLE) Step 1 was included in unscored sections of 2004-2005 USMLE Step 2 Clinical Knowledge (CK) test forms, and the performance of 15,000+ first-time examinees from U.S. and Canadian schools was analyzed to identify item characteristics affecting retention. RESULTS: Across the 502 study items, the mean item difficulty on Step 1 was 76.1%; on Step 2 CK, this value declined to 69.7%. Performance declines were largest in Biochemistry (17.5%) and Microbiology (12.6%). Improvement was only observed for Behavioral Sciences items (8.7%). CONCLUSIONS: Shifts in examinee performance in this study were similar to those observed in previous research, although the magnitude of the overall decline was somewhat larger.
BACKGROUND: Studies of retention of basic science information have commonly demonstrated a knowledge decline as students progress through medical education. This study examined item characteristics influencing patterns of retention. METHOD: A large content and statistically representative sample of basic science items from 2004-2005 forms of United States Medical Licensing Examination (USMLE) Step 1 was included in unscored sections of 2004-2005 USMLE Step 2 Clinical Knowledge (CK) test forms, and the performance of 15,000+ first-time examinees from U.S. and Canadian schools was analyzed to identify item characteristics affecting retention. RESULTS: Across the 502 study items, the mean item difficulty on Step 1 was 76.1%; on Step 2 CK, this value declined to 69.7%. Performance declines were largest in Biochemistry (17.5%) and Microbiology (12.6%). Improvement was only observed for Behavioral Sciences items (8.7%). CONCLUSIONS: Shifts in examinee performance in this study were similar to those observed in previous research, although the magnitude of the overall decline was somewhat larger.
Authors: Karen P Powell; Carol A Christianson; Whitney A Cogswell; Gaurav Dave; Amit Verma; Sonja Eubanks; Vincent C Henrich Journal: J Genet Couns Date: 2011-12-30 Impact factor: 2.537
Authors: Emine Ercikan Abali; Hanin Rashid; H Liesel Copeland; Melissa Calt; Richard DeMaio; Jashvin Patel; Sam Schild; Sangita Phadtare; Louis Chai; Michael Ullo Journal: Med Sci Educ Date: 2020-04-06
Authors: Xuanyi Li; Kaustav P Shah; Catherine Zivanov; Lourdes Estrada; William B Cutrer; Mary Hooks; Vicki Keedy; Kimberly Brown Dahlman Journal: Med Sci Educ Date: 2021-04-02
Authors: Kimberly Brown Dahlman; Matthew B Weinger; Kimberly D Lomis; Lillian Nanney; Neil Osheroff; Donald E Moore; Lourdes Estrada; William B Cutrer Journal: Med Sci Educ Date: 2018-01-02
Authors: Bunmi S Malau-Aduli; Adrian Ys Lee; Nick Cooling; Marianne Catchpole; Matthew Jose; Richard Turner Journal: BMC Med Educ Date: 2013-10-08 Impact factor: 2.463