Is There Gender Bias on the American Board of Surgery General Surgery Certifying Examination?

• In Event: Issues Related to Certification and Licensure Testing

Abstract

In the current study, we examined examiner bias due to gender in ratings from the general surgery certifying examination (CE) administered by the American Board of Surgery. The purpose of the CE is to evaluate examinees’ clinical ability to diagnose and treat common surgical complications in general surgery. Candidates are rated independently by three examiner pairs across three consecutive 30-minute testing sessions. We found no evidence of gender bias in CE ratings, with examiners rating all examinees similarly, regardless of their own gender and the gender of the examinees.

Authors

• Thai Ong, James Madison University

• Jason P. Kopp, American Board of Surgery

• Andrew Jones, American Board of Surgery

• Mark Malangoni, American Board of Surgery