NATIONAL BOARD OF MEDICAL EXAMINERS Subject Examination Program. Introduction to Clinical Diagnosis Examination Paper Version

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1 NATIONAL BOARD OF MEDICAL EXAMINERS Examination Paper Version Score Interpretation Guide NBME subject examinations provide medical schools with a tool for measuring examinees' understanding of the basic sciences. Items on the Examination were written and reviewed by national test committees preparing material for Step of the United States Medical Licensing Examination. Prior to publication, test forms are reviewed by a panel of directors of introduction to clinical diagnosis courses. Although these examinations are designed to be broadly appropriate as part of overall examinee assessment, course objectives vary across schools, and the congruence between subject examination content and course objectives should be considered when interpreting test scores and determining grading standards. Specifically, subject examination scores should not be used alone, but rather in conjunction with other indicators of examinee performance in determination of grades. Subject Examination Scores The subject examination score is scaled to have a mean of 00 and a standard deviation of 00 for a scaling group of, first-time takers from 0 U.S. LCMEaccredited medical schools who took the paper version of the Examination as an end-of-course examination under standard testing conditions during the 00-0 and 00-0 academic years. The vast majority of scores range from 00 to 00. This scale provides a useful tool for comparing the scores of your examinees who took the paper version with those of a large, nationally representative group of examinees taking the examination as an end-of-course examination. Please note that this scale is not comparable to the scale used for the web version of this subject examination. Subject examination scores are statistically equated across test administrations. Scores are statistically adjusted for shifts in test difficulty across different forms of the examination. This makes it possible to track school and examinee performance over time. Precision of Scores Measurement error is present on all tests, and the standard error of measurement (SEM) provides an index of the (im)precision of scores. The SEM indicates how far an examinee s score on the examination might stray from his/her true proficiency level across repeated testing using different sets of items covering the same content. Using the SEM, it is possible to calculate a score interval that will encompass about two thirds of the observed scores for a given true score by adding and subtracting the SEM from that score. For this examination, the SEM is approximately 0 points. For example, if an examinee s true proficiency on the examination is 00, the score he/she achieved on the examination will usually (two times out of three) fall between 0 and 0 (00-0 and ). Score Feedback Summary information on the examinee group tested, examination purpose and number of items scored is provided on each page of the feedback. The Roster of Scaled Scores reports a total test scaled score for each examinee. Reported scores also appear in a comma separated text file that can be downloaded and used to export scores. If there were at least examinees, Scaled Score Descriptive Statistics for reported scores are provided along with a Distribution of the total test scaled score. If there were at least 0 examinees, a Content Area Item Analysis Report is provided. Norms The most recent norms are provided to aid in the interpretation of examinee performance. These norms reflect the performance of examinees from LCMEaccredited medical schools who took the paper version of the examination for the first time as an end-of-course examination. icd_ppt_0_00

2 Examination Paper Version Norms for Examinee Performance The most recent norms that have been developed for the paper version of this examination are shown below. These norms enable you to compare your examinees subject examination scores with the performance of a nationally representative group of examinees taking the examination at a similar stage of training. The norms are based on the performance of a reference group comprised of examinees from LCME-accredited medical schools who took the paper version of the Examination for the first time as an end-of-course or end-of-year examination. Please note that these norms are not applicable to the web version of this subject examination. The sample size (N), mean, and standard deviation (SD) of the norm group for each academic period are listed below. The academic year for basic science exams is defined as test dates between July st and June 0 th. Period Academic Years N Mean SD 00-00, , 0 To use the norm table, locate an examinee s subject examination score in the column labeled "Score" and note the entry in the adjacent column labeled "Percentile Ranks". For example, if an examinee s score is 00, the corresponding percentile rank entry of in Period indicates that % of the national group of examinees taking the examination as an end-of-course or end-of-year examination during Period had scores at or below 00. Percentile Ranks Percentile Ranks Period Period Period Period Score (N=,) (N=,) Score (N=,) (N=,) 0 or above or below icd_ppt_0_00

3 Scaled Score Descriptive Statistics Test Date(s): 0/0/00 Scaled score descriptive statistics (mean, standard deviation, lowest score, and highest score) for the examination administered on the specified test date(s) are listed below. Please refer to the Score Interpretation Guide for information about how to interpret the scores. Medical s # Examinees Order ID MSS - 00 # 0 Score Category Description Test Mean Score. Standard Deviation 0. Low Score 0 High Score 90 Page of 0/0/00

4 Roster of Scaled Scores Test Date(s): 0/0/00 The roster of scores contains scaled score(s) for each examinee who tested on the specified test date(s). These same scores also appear in a comma separated value text file that can be downloaded and used to export scores into your local database. Please refer to the Score Interpretation Guide for information about how to interpret the scores. Medical s # Examinees Order ID MSS - 00 # 0 ID Name Page of 0/0/00

5 Scaled Score Distribution Test Date(s): 0/0/00 Medical s Scaled Score Count % # Examinees Order ID Cumulative Count % MSS - 00 # 0 Cumulative Scaled Score Count % Count % Page of 0/0/00