Examining the Big-Fish-Little-Pond Effect in Family Medicine Residency

• In Event: 56.082 - Poster Session 12
  In Poster Session: 56.082-8 - Poster Session: Education and Assessment in the Professions

Abstract

The big-fish-little-pond effect (BFLPE) has been explored in a number of studies investigating its effects at different levels of education and on many educational outcomes. However, there has not been a systematic attempt to test BFLPE in medical education. To this end, this study aimed to investigate the BFLPE in the medical education. We investigated whether there are differences in growth rates across residents in different size of programs in the first place. Then this study aimed to examine whether there are differences in growth rates across residents under 20% of percentile ranking in different size of programs. The results did not support effect of program size on residents’ growth rates in residency and initial certificate examinations.

Authors

• Ruixue Liu, University of Kentucky

• Thomas R. O'Neill, American Board of Family Medicine

• Michael R Peabody, American Board of Family Medicine