Residencies With Dual Internal Medicine and Pediatrics Programs Outperform Others on the American Board of Pediatrics Certifying Examination

Abstract

Objective. The purpose was to evaluate American Board of Pediatrics Certifying Examination performance based on if a residency offers a dual internal medicine–pediatrics program, hypothesizing that having a dual-accreditation program is associated with higher exam performance. Methods. Pediatric residency programs in the United States were retrospectively evaluated from 2010 to 2012. The accreditation status was determined. Mann–Whitney U tests were performed for continuous variables, and χ2 tests were performed for categorical variables, using an α = .05. Results. For 190 residencies, 75 (39%) had dual Med-Peds accreditation whereas 115 (61%) did not. The median overall residency pass rate for Med-Peds accredited programs (83%; interquartile range = 74% to 91%) was higher than other programs (78%; interquartile range = 65% to 89%; P = .02). The pass rate for examinees from Med-Peds accredited programs (n = 4,108; 84.2%) was higher than examinees from other programs (n = 4,310; 79.6%; P < .001). Conclusions. The presence of a dual-accreditation residency program should be a consideration of future applicants.