Maurice Blodgett, Martin Schmidt, Jennifer S Beaty, Brian Pinney, Bryan Hays
{"title":"考试顺序和时间作为骨科医学生complex - usa和USMLE表现的预测因子。","authors":"Maurice Blodgett, Martin Schmidt, Jennifer S Beaty, Brian Pinney, Bryan Hays","doi":"10.2147/AMEP.S550972","DOIUrl":null,"url":null,"abstract":"<p><strong>Purpose: </strong>This study examined the impact of exam sequence and timing on the performance of osteopathic medical students on the COMLEX-USA Level 1 and Level 2 and USMLE Step 1 and Step 2 examinations.</p><p><strong>Methods: </strong>Two cohorts were analyzed: 364 osteopathic medical students who completed both COMLEX-USA Level 1 and USMLE Step 1 between 2020 and 2022 (prior to the implementation of pass/fail grading), and 734 osteopathic medical students who completed both COMLEX-USA Level 2 and USMLE Step 2 between 2021 and 2025. Student performance was evaluated based on the sequence of examinations and intervals between them. Because the scores did not follow a normal distribution, as indicated by the Shapiro-Wilk test, the Mann-Whitney <i>U</i>-test was employed to compare the median scores between the groups.</p><p><strong>Results: </strong>Osteopathic medical students who undertook the USMLE examinations first consistently achieved higher scores than those who undertook the COMLEX-USA examinations first across most academic quartiles. Shorter exam intervals (1-7 days) were associated with higher scores, whereas longer intervals (≥8 days) were correlated with significantly lower scores. The effects of exam order and timing varied across performance quartiles, with lower-performing students deriving the greatest benefit from taking the USMLE examinations first and maintaining shorter intervals between the exams.</p><p><strong>Conclusion: </strong>Strategic scheduling of exams may enhance performance on both the COMLEX-USA and USMLE examinations, particularly for lower-performing students. However, individual factors should be considered when implementing these strategies. These findings offer valuable insights for osteopathic medical students and educators in planning exam preparation and scheduling.</p>","PeriodicalId":47404,"journal":{"name":"Advances in Medical Education and Practice","volume":"16 ","pages":"1537-1545"},"PeriodicalIF":1.7000,"publicationDate":"2025-08-25","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC12396519/pdf/","citationCount":"0","resultStr":"{\"title\":\"Exam Sequence and Timing as Predictors of COMLEX-USA and USMLE Performance in Osteopathic Medical Students.\",\"authors\":\"Maurice Blodgett, Martin Schmidt, Jennifer S Beaty, Brian Pinney, Bryan Hays\",\"doi\":\"10.2147/AMEP.S550972\",\"DOIUrl\":null,\"url\":null,\"abstract\":\"<p><strong>Purpose: </strong>This study examined the impact of exam sequence and timing on the performance of osteopathic medical students on the COMLEX-USA Level 1 and Level 2 and USMLE Step 1 and Step 2 examinations.</p><p><strong>Methods: </strong>Two cohorts were analyzed: 364 osteopathic medical students who completed both COMLEX-USA Level 1 and USMLE Step 1 between 2020 and 2022 (prior to the implementation of pass/fail grading), and 734 osteopathic medical students who completed both COMLEX-USA Level 2 and USMLE Step 2 between 2021 and 2025. Student performance was evaluated based on the sequence of examinations and intervals between them. Because the scores did not follow a normal distribution, as indicated by the Shapiro-Wilk test, the Mann-Whitney <i>U</i>-test was employed to compare the median scores between the groups.</p><p><strong>Results: </strong>Osteopathic medical students who undertook the USMLE examinations first consistently achieved higher scores than those who undertook the COMLEX-USA examinations first across most academic quartiles. Shorter exam intervals (1-7 days) were associated with higher scores, whereas longer intervals (≥8 days) were correlated with significantly lower scores. The effects of exam order and timing varied across performance quartiles, with lower-performing students deriving the greatest benefit from taking the USMLE examinations first and maintaining shorter intervals between the exams.</p><p><strong>Conclusion: </strong>Strategic scheduling of exams may enhance performance on both the COMLEX-USA and USMLE examinations, particularly for lower-performing students. However, individual factors should be considered when implementing these strategies. These findings offer valuable insights for osteopathic medical students and educators in planning exam preparation and scheduling.</p>\",\"PeriodicalId\":47404,\"journal\":{\"name\":\"Advances in Medical Education and Practice\",\"volume\":\"16 \",\"pages\":\"1537-1545\"},\"PeriodicalIF\":1.7000,\"publicationDate\":\"2025-08-25\",\"publicationTypes\":\"Journal Article\",\"fieldsOfStudy\":null,\"isOpenAccess\":false,\"openAccessPdf\":\"https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC12396519/pdf/\",\"citationCount\":\"0\",\"resultStr\":null,\"platform\":\"Semanticscholar\",\"paperid\":null,\"PeriodicalName\":\"Advances in Medical Education and Practice\",\"FirstCategoryId\":\"1085\",\"ListUrlMain\":\"https://doi.org/10.2147/AMEP.S550972\",\"RegionNum\":0,\"RegionCategory\":null,\"ArticlePicture\":[],\"TitleCN\":null,\"AbstractTextCN\":null,\"PMCID\":null,\"EPubDate\":\"2025/1/1 0:00:00\",\"PubModel\":\"eCollection\",\"JCR\":\"Q2\",\"JCRName\":\"EDUCATION, SCIENTIFIC DISCIPLINES\",\"Score\":null,\"Total\":0}","platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":null,"PeriodicalName":"Advances in Medical Education and Practice","FirstCategoryId":"1085","ListUrlMain":"https://doi.org/10.2147/AMEP.S550972","RegionNum":0,"RegionCategory":null,"ArticlePicture":[],"TitleCN":null,"AbstractTextCN":null,"PMCID":null,"EPubDate":"2025/1/1 0:00:00","PubModel":"eCollection","JCR":"Q2","JCRName":"EDUCATION, SCIENTIFIC DISCIPLINES","Score":null,"Total":0}
Exam Sequence and Timing as Predictors of COMLEX-USA and USMLE Performance in Osteopathic Medical Students.
Purpose: This study examined the impact of exam sequence and timing on the performance of osteopathic medical students on the COMLEX-USA Level 1 and Level 2 and USMLE Step 1 and Step 2 examinations.
Methods: Two cohorts were analyzed: 364 osteopathic medical students who completed both COMLEX-USA Level 1 and USMLE Step 1 between 2020 and 2022 (prior to the implementation of pass/fail grading), and 734 osteopathic medical students who completed both COMLEX-USA Level 2 and USMLE Step 2 between 2021 and 2025. Student performance was evaluated based on the sequence of examinations and intervals between them. Because the scores did not follow a normal distribution, as indicated by the Shapiro-Wilk test, the Mann-Whitney U-test was employed to compare the median scores between the groups.
Results: Osteopathic medical students who undertook the USMLE examinations first consistently achieved higher scores than those who undertook the COMLEX-USA examinations first across most academic quartiles. Shorter exam intervals (1-7 days) were associated with higher scores, whereas longer intervals (≥8 days) were correlated with significantly lower scores. The effects of exam order and timing varied across performance quartiles, with lower-performing students deriving the greatest benefit from taking the USMLE examinations first and maintaining shorter intervals between the exams.
Conclusion: Strategic scheduling of exams may enhance performance on both the COMLEX-USA and USMLE examinations, particularly for lower-performing students. However, individual factors should be considered when implementing these strategies. These findings offer valuable insights for osteopathic medical students and educators in planning exam preparation and scheduling.