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Variation of surgery clerkship grades in US medical schools.

Publication ,  Journal Article
Brownstein, MR; Shen, MR; Strassle, PD; Meyers, MO
Published in: Am J Surg
February 2019

BACKGROUND: Despite efforts at standardization, evaluation and reporting of clerkships remains highly variable. This study reviews the current spectrum of surgical clerkship grading. METHODS: Data were reviewed for every medical school from which an application was received to a single surgery residency program in 2017 and were evaluated for core surgical clerkship grading systems, distributions, and components. Fischer's exact tests and Wilcoxon-Mann-Whitney tests were used for analysis. RESULTS: 133 (49 private) schools were evaluated. Geographic distribution:34 Northeast, 50 South, 31 Midwest and 18 West. 120 reported grading tiers, with public schools (95%) more likely than private (80%) to report this (p = 0.02). The number of grading categories ranged from 2 to 11; 90% with 3-5. Over 25% of the schools gave ≥40% of students the highest grade; median of 30% in the highest tier. CONCLUSIONS: Significant variation exists in core surgery clerkship grading between schools. Similarly, a sizeable difference exists in how grades are calculated and the reporting systems used. Standardizing grading schemes across medical schools would be beneficial.

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Published In

Am J Surg

DOI

EISSN

1879-1883

Publication Date

February 2019

Volume

217

Issue

2

Start / End Page

329 / 334

Location

United States

Related Subject Headings

  • United States
  • Surgery
  • Students, Medical
  • Schools, Medical
  • Internship and Residency
  • Humans
  • General Surgery
  • Educational Measurement
  • Education, Medical, Undergraduate
  • Clinical Competence
 

Citation

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Brownstein, M. R., Shen, M. R., Strassle, P. D., & Meyers, M. O. (2019). Variation of surgery clerkship grades in US medical schools. Am J Surg, 217(2), 329–334. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.amjsurg.2018.09.024
Brownstein, Michelle R., Mary R. Shen, Paula D. Strassle, and Michael O. Meyers. “Variation of surgery clerkship grades in US medical schools.Am J Surg 217, no. 2 (February 2019): 329–34. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.amjsurg.2018.09.024.
Brownstein MR, Shen MR, Strassle PD, Meyers MO. Variation of surgery clerkship grades in US medical schools. Am J Surg. 2019 Feb;217(2):329–34.
Brownstein, Michelle R., et al. “Variation of surgery clerkship grades in US medical schools.Am J Surg, vol. 217, no. 2, Feb. 2019, pp. 329–34. Pubmed, doi:10.1016/j.amjsurg.2018.09.024.
Brownstein MR, Shen MR, Strassle PD, Meyers MO. Variation of surgery clerkship grades in US medical schools. Am J Surg. 2019 Feb;217(2):329–334.
Journal cover image

Published In

Am J Surg

DOI

EISSN

1879-1883

Publication Date

February 2019

Volume

217

Issue

2

Start / End Page

329 / 334

Location

United States

Related Subject Headings

  • United States
  • Surgery
  • Students, Medical
  • Schools, Medical
  • Internship and Residency
  • Humans
  • General Surgery
  • Educational Measurement
  • Education, Medical, Undergraduate
  • Clinical Competence