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Home Research Research Library Machine Learning to Identify Clusters in Family Medicine Diplomate Motivations and Their Relationship to Continuing Certification Exam Outcomes: Findings and Potential Future Implications Machine Learning to Identify Clusters in Family Medicine Diplomate Motivations and Their Relationship to Continuing Certification Exam Outcomes: Findings and Potential Future Implications 2024 Author(s) Price, David W, Wingrove, Peter M, and Bazemore, Andrew W Topic(s) Family Medicine Certification Keyword(s) Continuing Certification Questionnaire Volume Journal of the American Board of Family Medicine Source Journal of the American Board of Family Medicine Background: The potential for machine learning (ML) to enhance the efficiency of medical specialty boards has not been explored. We applied unsupervised ML to identify archetypes among American Board of Family Medicine (ABFM) Diplomates regarding their practice characteristics and motivations for participating in continuing certification, then examined associations between motivation patterns and key recertification outcomes. Methods: Diplomates responding to the 2017 to 2021 ABFM Family Medicine continuing certification examination surveys selected motivations for choosing to continue certification. We used Chi-squared tests to examine difference proportions of Diplomates failing their first recertification examination attempt who endorsed different motivations for maintaining certification. Unsupervised ML techniques were applied to generate clusters of physicians with similar practice characteristics and motivations for recertifying. Controlling for physician demographic variables, we used logistic regression to examine the effect of motivation clusters on recertification examination success and validated the ML clusters by comparison with a previously created classification schema developed by experts. Results: ML clusters largely recapitulated the intrinsic/extrinsic framework devised by experts previously. However, the identified clusters achieved a more equal partitioning of Diplomates into homogenous groups. In both ML and human clusters, physicians with mainly extrinsic or mixed motivations had lower rates of examination failure than those who were intrinsically motivated. Discussion: This study demonstrates the feasibility of using ML to supplement and enhance human interpretation of board certification data. We discuss implications of this demonstration study for the interaction between specialty boards and physician Diplomates. ABFM Research Read all 2024 The Effect of Spaced Repetition on Learning and Knowledge Transfer in a Large Cohort of Practicing Physicians Go to The Effect of Spaced Repetition on Learning and Knowledge Transfer in a Large Cohort of Practicing Physicians 2021 Practice Patterns of Family Physicians With and Without Addiction Medicine Board Certification Go to Practice Patterns of Family Physicians With and Without Addiction Medicine Board Certification 2021 Empowering Family Physicians to Drive Change in Practice: Plans for the ABFM National Journal Club Go to Empowering Family Physicians to Drive Change in Practice: Plans for the ABFM National Journal Club 2011 Performance on the American Board of Family Medicine (ABFM) certification examination: are superior test-taking skills alone sufficient to pass? Go to Performance on the American Board of Family Medicine (ABFM) certification examination: are superior test-taking skills alone sufficient to pass?
Author(s) Price, David W, Wingrove, Peter M, and Bazemore, Andrew W Topic(s) Family Medicine Certification Keyword(s) Continuing Certification Questionnaire Volume Journal of the American Board of Family Medicine Source Journal of the American Board of Family Medicine
ABFM Research Read all 2024 The Effect of Spaced Repetition on Learning and Knowledge Transfer in a Large Cohort of Practicing Physicians Go to The Effect of Spaced Repetition on Learning and Knowledge Transfer in a Large Cohort of Practicing Physicians 2021 Practice Patterns of Family Physicians With and Without Addiction Medicine Board Certification Go to Practice Patterns of Family Physicians With and Without Addiction Medicine Board Certification 2021 Empowering Family Physicians to Drive Change in Practice: Plans for the ABFM National Journal Club Go to Empowering Family Physicians to Drive Change in Practice: Plans for the ABFM National Journal Club 2011 Performance on the American Board of Family Medicine (ABFM) certification examination: are superior test-taking skills alone sufficient to pass? Go to Performance on the American Board of Family Medicine (ABFM) certification examination: are superior test-taking skills alone sufficient to pass?
2024 The Effect of Spaced Repetition on Learning and Knowledge Transfer in a Large Cohort of Practicing Physicians Go to The Effect of Spaced Repetition on Learning and Knowledge Transfer in a Large Cohort of Practicing Physicians
2021 Practice Patterns of Family Physicians With and Without Addiction Medicine Board Certification Go to Practice Patterns of Family Physicians With and Without Addiction Medicine Board Certification
2021 Empowering Family Physicians to Drive Change in Practice: Plans for the ABFM National Journal Club Go to Empowering Family Physicians to Drive Change in Practice: Plans for the ABFM National Journal Club
2011 Performance on the American Board of Family Medicine (ABFM) certification examination: are superior test-taking skills alone sufficient to pass? Go to Performance on the American Board of Family Medicine (ABFM) certification examination: are superior test-taking skills alone sufficient to pass?