Specialty Board Pass Rates

This forum made possible through the generous support of SDN members, donors, and sponsors. Thank you.

WhtsThFrequency

Full Member
15+ Year Member
Joined
Jan 18, 2006
Messages
17,022
Reaction score
15,651
Out of curiosity....is there any place that lists, by school, the board pass rate of various institutions by discipline? Something via the accrediting body, perhaps? Or are we left with having to slog through all the individual websites?

I'm really looking hard at residency now, and am rather struck by the low Path board pass rates among many schools (only 30% average on the first try!). I know Path in particular is extremely difficult, but seeing that low of a pass rate is disconcerting. To me (and if I am wrong, correct me) board pass rate is a very good indicator of program quality (not the ONLY one, just one *good one*) because it shows how much instruction/mentorship and varied activities you have in residency (ie not just looking at research mouse kidneys all day).

Members don't see this ad.
 
board pass rate is a very good indicator of program quality.

Since the whole purpose of a residency is to prepare you for your board-certification exams, I have to agree. I would LOVE to find out this information, especially for all the relatively young private practice neurology residency programs out there versus the more established academic residency programs.

If I find anything, I'll let you know and vice-versa! Deal? :)

P.S. I remember that at least 7-8 years ago, 20-30% was the average pass rate quoted for the ACVECC exams, too--secondhand knowledge, but that's what one criticalist told me. Also, I was told that ACVS pass rates on the first attempt were around 50%--again, this is early 2000's and only from individuals who had taken the exam, not the certifying bodies, so take that for what you will. :) That 30% might be accurate!
 
Out of curiosity....is there any place that lists, by school, the board pass rate of various institutions by discipline? Something via the accrediting body, perhaps? Or are we left with having to slog through all the individual websites?

I'm really looking hard at residency now, and am rather struck by the low Path board pass rates among many schools (only 30% average on the first try!). I know Path in particular is extremely difficult, but seeing that low of a pass rate is disconcerting. To me (and if I am wrong, correct me) board pass rate is a very good indicator of program quality (not the ONLY one, just one *good one*) because it shows how much instruction/mentorship and varied activities you have in residency (ie not just looking at research mouse kidneys all day).

The numbers 20-30% pass rate is actually pretty normal for Path and Lab Animal boards.
 
Members don't see this ad :)
The numbers 20-30% pass rate is actually pretty normal for Path and Lab Animal boards.

Yeah that's what I mean, the normal pass rates are a lot lower than I expected. Not that I thought any boards would be easy, but I was expecting maybe more of a 50-60% pass rate average. How were Lab Animal boards (or are you still in residency and haven't taken them yet? I imagine its a ton of material) ?
 
I also don't know of any site that compiles pass rates for all the specialties and programs. The individual specialties would have this information but most don't make this public. One problem is that most programs have only 1 resident a year taking the exam, so if you release data for specific programs you are essentially releasing data on individuals. It's not like vet schools having 60-120 students taking the boards each year.

I think you will have to refer to each program for this type information but keep in mind that recent pass rates should only be one consideration when evaluating a program's quality. With the low numbers, pass rate probably reflects quality of the individual residents as much as the program.

Find out what sort of seminars, rounds and mock exams they have for exam preparation for the residents. And make sure the residents get adequate time off to study.
 
Even though historically the pathology board exams have a terribly low pass rate, the American College of Veterinary Pathologists has been working on improving that number. It has improved the passing rate somewhat so that some years it is around 50%. (I passed pathology boards in 2003 after a few attempts.) I do not know of any veterinary speciality that lists pass rate per institution. I know ACVP doesn't. I agree with Bill59 that finding out what educational opporunities are available to the resident is an extremely wise thing to do for any residency training. Especially mock exams. I am a big proponent of mock exams. If you are looking into a specific residency, ask a lot of questions including the pass rate. How can you make an informed decision without knowledge? For the OP, I wouldn't let the historically low pathology board pass rate discourage you. It is changing in an upwards motion I believe. At least from my experience.
 
The numbers 20-30% pass rate is actually pretty normal for Path and Lab Animal boards.

Yeah that's what I mean, the normal pass rates are a lot lower than I expected. Not that I thought any boards would be easy, but I was expecting maybe more of a 50-60% pass rate average. How were Lab Animal boards (or are you still in residency and haven't taken them yet? I imagine its a ton of material) ?

Still in residency. Thinking I will take the boards in 2011.
 
This site has the pass rates by specialty as well as program: http://www.boardpassrates.com ... but keep in mind that they use projections when the data isn't available. It may not be totally accurate.
Yes, but I don't think it has any information for veterinary medicine (what this forum is for).
 
I know this isn't exactly what OP was asking for, but for Lab Animal at least you can do some legwork from this website.

I basically went through each program link and found the spot where they listed how many had gone through the program and how many had subsequently become ACLAM Diplomates and did the math from there. Not 100% (because some people do the residency and then don't sit for boards or become board-eligible or what have you) but I feel it gives some sort of idea.

And yes, I'm only VM2 and have done all of this already, because I'd rather constantly look at residency/internship things than study...
 
:thumbup: Did you end up doing a PhD @WhtsThFrequency which you didn't seem to want to do in the beginning of your residency training?
 
Last edited:
Ahahaha. Wow. Crazy.

I still don't know how it happened. After the second day of testing I was calling WW and blubbering over the phone, convinced I had failed already :laugh: That year, all three of us from my program passed. We were a dream team. I do miss those ladies.

Yes, I'm currently doing the PhD. In end, I had to really think hard and balance my final goal (landing a job in academia - most of not all clinical professorship jobs require or "highly prefer" a PhD) against my desire to bolt, and realized that yeah....I kind of have to do it in order to have the best possible chance of landing a job like that.
 
  • Like
Reactions: 1 user
Ahahaha. Wow. Crazy.

I still don't know how it happened. After the second day of testing I was calling WW and blubbering over the phone, convinced I had failed already :laugh: That year, all three of us from my program passed. We were a dream team. I do miss those ladies.

Yes, I'm currently doing the PhD. In end, I had to really think hard and balance my final goal (landing a job in academia - most of not all clinical professorship jobs require or "highly prefer" a PhD) against my desire to bolt, and realized that yeah....I kind of have to do it in order to have the best possible chance of landing a job like that.

Cool, hope everything goes well :)
I actually had a question regarding specializing and was wondering maybe you'd know.
I understand there's 2 major international specialist areas. Either member in the European college of specified specialist or the American college of specified specialist.
What I was wondering is cause I saw that if, for example in the surgery specialty, you're a member of ACVS you can automatically become a member in the ECVS. I assume this is the case because the American specialities are of the highest standards, but is it the same other way around? Can a member in the ECVS become a member in ACVS without extra training?

I just took surgery as an example, I assume all the different specialties colleges have different rules. Do you know how it is for pathology for example?
 
Cool, hope everything goes well :)
I actually had a question regarding specializing and was wondering maybe you'd know.
I understand there's 2 major international specialist areas. Either member in the European college of specified specialist or the American college of specified specialist.
What I was wondering is cause I saw that if, for example in the surgery specialty, you're a member of ACVS you can automatically become a member in the ECVS. I assume this is the case because the American specialities are of the highest standards, but is it the same other way around? Can a member in the ECVS become a member in ACVS without extra training?

I just took surgery as an example, I assume all the different specialties colleges have different rules. Do you know how it is for pathology for example?

That's a good question...I actually have no idea! I believe foreign vets still have to take PAVE and/or ECFVG in order to be licensed in the US (and you'd have to be licensed to be a specialist anyway) so that's one stepping stone. But in terms of residency equivalents, I don't really know. I know ECVP diplomates can act as sponsors for residents taking the ACVP exam.
 
That's a good question...I actually have no idea! I believe foreign vets still have to take PAVE and/or ECFVG in order to be licensed in the US (and you'd have to be licensed to be a specialist anyway) so that's one stepping stone. But in terms of residency equivalents, I don't really know. I know ECVP diplomates can act as sponsors for residents taking the ACVP exam.

Yeah it seems like it's pretty hard to find solid information regarding these technicalities. Thanks for the input though!
 
That information isn't published by school, at least to my knowledge. You can go on ACVS, ACVIM, etc.'s websites and dig up pass rates overall for various board exams, but it's not available by school. Which makes sense because half of the residency programs aren't even in a school.

*EDIT: Still trying to figure this site out (joined today). Whoops, I didn't see that this thread was 6 years old. Crazy. Congrats WTF!
 
Top