Subtest Scores of a Comprehensive Examination of Medical Knowledge as a Function of Retention Interval

Abstract

It was hypothesized that performance on particular subtests of a comprehensive examination of medical knowledge would be a function of the length of time between completion of the respective medical training and the administration of the comprehensive examination. Two samples of graduates of the Jefferson Medical College including 1086 students who graduated between 1975 and 1979, and 877 who graduated in 1980 through 1983 were studied. Each student in the junior year of medical school had been assigned to one of four groups. Each group took the required clerkship training in internal medicine, obstetrics/gynecology, pediatrics, psychiatry and surgery in a different rotational sequence. Statistical analyses indicated that there were no statistically significant differences among the four groups in the two samples, before and after the junior year on total comprehensive medical examination scores. However, an expected linear trend was found in scores on subtests of psychiatry, obstetrics/gynecology, and surgery in both samples. The observed trend indicated that the shorter the retention interval between clerkship training and the respective examination, the higher the score on that examination. Data were analyzed in terms of some hypotheses from learning theories, and implications for medical education were discussed.