Diplomate Spotlight Opening Doors with Board Certification: A Conversation with Long Standing Diplomate Joseph Cook Read Opening Doors with Board Certification: A Conversation with Long Standing Diplomate Joseph Cook
Phoenix Newsletter - July 2025 Available Now: 2026 5-Year Cycle Registration Read Available Now: 2026 5-Year Cycle Registration
Home Research Research Library Understanding the “sum of subtest to overall score discrepancy” on the MC-FP examination Understanding the “sum of subtest to overall score discrepancy” on the MC-FP examination 2012 Author(s) Royal, Kenneth D, and Puffer, James C Topic(s) Family Medicine Certification Keyword(s) Cognitive Expertise, and Psychometrics Volume Annals of Family Medicine Source Annals of Family Medicine When high-stakes examinations, such as the American Board of Family Medicine’s (ABFM) Maintenance of Certifi cation-in Family Practice (MC-FP) examination are administered, candidates and diplomates are keenly interested in the accuracy of their test scores, especially when their scores are close to, but below, the pass/fail cut point. In some instances, candidates will attempt to reverse engineer their scores using the information provided on the score report in an effort to verify the “weighted sum of the subtest scores” is congruent with the overall test score. Any discrepancy might become alarming to the candidate, providing a seemingly legitimate reason to believe the overall score was inaccurate, thus prompting a phone call to the ABFM for further investigation and clarifi cation. Historically, such a mistake in scoring has never been found; however, a statistical phenomenon that we will describe below could make it appear so. We would like to explain this phenomenon so that examinees who attempt to reverse engineer their score reports will better understand the “sum of subtest to overall score discrepancy” phenomenon. ABFM Research Read all 2013 Dimensionality of the Maintenance of Certification for Family Physicians Examination: Evidence of Construct Validity Go to Dimensionality of the Maintenance of Certification for Family Physicians Examination: Evidence of Construct Validity 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 1986 Defining the content of board certification examinations Go to Defining the content of board certification examinations 2022 Physicians’ Choice of Board Certification Activity Is Unaffected by Baseline Quality of Care: The TRADEMaRQ Study Go to Physicians’ Choice of Board Certification Activity Is Unaffected by Baseline Quality of Care: The TRADEMaRQ Study
Author(s) Royal, Kenneth D, and Puffer, James C Topic(s) Family Medicine Certification Keyword(s) Cognitive Expertise, and Psychometrics Volume Annals of Family Medicine Source Annals of Family Medicine
ABFM Research Read all 2013 Dimensionality of the Maintenance of Certification for Family Physicians Examination: Evidence of Construct Validity Go to Dimensionality of the Maintenance of Certification for Family Physicians Examination: Evidence of Construct Validity 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 1986 Defining the content of board certification examinations Go to Defining the content of board certification examinations 2022 Physicians’ Choice of Board Certification Activity Is Unaffected by Baseline Quality of Care: The TRADEMaRQ Study Go to Physicians’ Choice of Board Certification Activity Is Unaffected by Baseline Quality of Care: The TRADEMaRQ Study
2013 Dimensionality of the Maintenance of Certification for Family Physicians Examination: Evidence of Construct Validity Go to Dimensionality of the Maintenance of Certification for Family Physicians Examination: Evidence of Construct Validity
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
1986 Defining the content of board certification examinations Go to Defining the content of board certification examinations
2022 Physicians’ Choice of Board Certification Activity Is Unaffected by Baseline Quality of Care: The TRADEMaRQ Study Go to Physicians’ Choice of Board Certification Activity Is Unaffected by Baseline Quality of Care: The TRADEMaRQ Study