Doctors from some medical schools are more likely to pass specialist exam

Abstract

Doctors who attended particular medical schools, such as Oxford, Cambridge, and Edinburgh, are more likely to pass their specialist training exams, says research published online in the Postgraduate Medical Journal (doi:10.1136/postgradmedj-2011-130479). The researchers looked at the first time pass rate for both parts of the Royal College of Obstetricians and Gynaecologists membership (MRCOG) examinations, a prerequisite for doctors who want to complete specialist training in obstetrics and gynaecology, and assessed the potential effects on pass rates of the medical school attended, sex, and overall academic performance at A level. Between 1998 and 2008 …