Performances of U.S. osteopathic and Canadian medical school graduates on the American Board of Internal Medicine Certifying Examinations, 1984-1988

Abstract

The performances of Canadian medical school graduates and U.S. osteopathic medical school graduates who first took the American Board of Internal Medicine Certifying Examination between 1984 and 1988 were compared with the performances, during the same period, of U.S. and foreign medical school graduates. Approximately 100 Canadian graduates took the examination each year; by 1988 the number of osteopathic graduates taking it was 102, double the number participating in 1984. Nearly all the Canadian graduates attended university or university-affiliated residencies, whereas half of the osteopathic graduates attended non-university-affiliated programs. For their overall clinical competence and for the eight components of clinical competence, the Canadian graduates were rated highest, followed by the U.S., osteopathic, and foreign graduates. The Canadians' average examination scores were also highest. The authors discuss the relatively low level of performance of the osteopathic graduates, but conclude that these graduates appear to be an untapped source of talented physicians for internal medicine residencies. The limitations of studying self-selected groups of candidates are also discussed.