Time Between Completion of Third Year Clerkship and Shelf Exam Does Not Impact Scores

Abstract

INTRODUCTION: As Step 1 has become pass-fail, residency programs are investigating other objective measures to evaluate applicants, such as shelf exams. Therefore, optimizing shelf scores is increasingly important to medical schools and applicants. METHODS: During the COVID pandemic, third-year medical students were given the opportunity to schedule shelf exams independent of clerkships. Completion dates of the clerkship and shelf exam dates were used to determine if students took the exam prior to, at the immediate end, or sometime after the clinical experience. Shelf exam scores between the groups were compared. RESULTS: Included in the analysis were 1132 shelf exam scores. Of these, 41 were taken prior to the clinical experience, 735 were taken at the conclusion of the clinical experience, and 356 were taken afterwards. For those who delayed the exam, the mean number of weeks between the completion of the clerkship and the shelf exam was 11.8. The mean ± SD shelf score for those taking it prior to the clerkship was 78.61 ± 6.79, at the conclusion was 79.91 ± 8.74 and for those taking it sometime after was 76.56 ± 7.70. The difference between those taking it at the end and sometime after was not statistically significant (p = 0.16). CONCLUSION: There is no correlation between shelf exam scores and the interval between completion of the clinical experience and shelf exam. Medical schools may choose to introduce flexibility in scheduling shelf exams without negatively impacting scores. This flexibility may reduce stress while increasing control and accountability.