Correlation of University Comprehensive and National Certification Exam Scores for Medical Laboratory Science Students

This retrospective study evaluated the ability to predict certification by the American Society for Clinical Pathology (ASCP) Board of Certification (BOC), using an overall score cutoff of 60% on a university comprehensive exam. The study also evaluated overall and content area scores (Blood Bank, Chemistry, Hematology, Immunology, Laboratory Operations, Microbiology, and Urinalysis and Other Body Fluids) for correlation between the university and BOC exams. Overall university exam scores ranged from 35-86% (percentage of correct answers) for students completing both exams from 2006-2015 (n = 152). BOC exam scores ranged from 287-755 (scaled from 0-999, with 400 required to pass). The overall correlation between scores was 0.65. Content area correlations ranged from 0.00 (Immunology) to 0.55 (Microbiology) for students completing both exams from 2012-2015 (n = 51). A receiver operating characteristic curve resulted in an overall university exam score cutoff of 55% showing the highest sensitivity and specificity for predicting success. Using the hypothesized 60% cutoff, one student showed a false positive result. All students scoring above 67% on the comprehensive exam passed the certification exam. In general, this study indicates that there are large variations when comparing results between comprehensive and certification exams. ABBREVIATIONS: ASCP - American Society for Clinical Pathology; BOC - Board of Certification; BOR - Board of Registry; GPA - grade point average; MLS - medical laboratory science/scientist; NAACLS - National Accrediting Agency for Clinical Laboratory Sciences; ROC - receiver operating characteristic; SD - standard deviation