PT  - JOURNAL ARTICLE
AU  - Dai, Mingliang
AU  - Bazemore, Andrew W.
TI  - Timing of Certification Stage Completion Associated with Subsequent Certification Exam Outcomes Among Board-Certified Family Physicians
AID  - 10.3122/jabfm.2023.230376R1
DP  - 2024 Nov 01
TA  - The Journal of the American Board of Family
                Medicine
PG  - 1130--1132
VI  - 37
IP  - 6
4099  - http://www.jabfm.org/content/37/6/1130.short
4100  - http://www.jabfm.org/content/37/6/1130.full
SO  - J Am Board Fam Med2024 Nov 01; 37
AB  - Objective: To assess the relationship between the timing of certification stage completion and subsequent certification examination outcomes among board-certified family physicians (FPs)Methods: We analyzed administrative data from the American Board of Family Medicine to determine whether timely completion of certification stage, that is, completing all stage requirements before the deadline, was associated with FPs’ passing their subsequent examination to continue their certification and their examination score.Results: Among 22,122 FPs, 79.7% completed their stage timely while 20.3% did so past the deadline. After adjusting for potential confounders, FPs with timely stage completion were twice more likely to pass the examination (O.R. =2.03, P < .01) and scored 24 points higher (P < .01) compared with their counterparts with late completion.Conclusion: While the difference in examination score was trivial, late compared with timely completion of certification stage was associated with doubled risks of FPs failing the examination. This study offered an invaluable insight for improving the certification process and ensuring the competence of FPs.