Assessing the viability of External Searchable Resources on the American Board of Family Medicine’s certification examination

(Purpose) The purpose of our study was to assess the need for an external searchable resource to be used in conjunction with the American Board of Family Medicine’s (ABFM) Maintenance of Certification for Family Physicians (MC-FP) Examination, discuss the philosophical question of whether an ESR should be allowed on the examination, and outline some barriers to implementation of an ESR. (Methodology) In order to assess the need for an ESR, a survey was conducted during a recent modified-Angoff (1971) standard setting exercise. While reviewing 120 test questions, the raters were asked whether an external searchable resource would be required to correctly answer a question. (Results) Results show that rater perception ESR need was highly correlated with item difficulty. Furthermore, raters believed that few questions would need to be looked up by the average physician. (Conclusions) The results suggest that an ESR would likely not benefit most physicians as most test questions on this examination are assessing core knowledge. (Recommendations) The decision to implement an ESR should be based upon whether such access is beneficial or at least neutral with regard to the certifying boards’ mission of assuring the public regarding certified Diplomates’ abilities, and whether the obstacles to implementation can be overcome without harming the integrity of the examination.