2010 Boards will NOT be P/F!

[asdfg]

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[armorshell]

Link to source?

 

[asdfg]

,

 

[Cold Front]

Dental school ADEA rep...included in her notes from a national meeting.

She put up the wrong slide.

 

[SFortho]

I'm sooooo confused!!

 

[Cold Front]

I'm sooooo confused!!

The only official document available about the changes is this.

 

[asdfg]

.

 

[Hysteria24]

The only official document available about the changes is this.

Yup... That's the most recent thing I have currently read on the issue.

Although this is not the first time I've heard this new rumor, it would be nice to see some update in writing.

If this turns out to be correct, I may have to cancel my volunteer activity helping inner city children this weekend and get studying! 😉

 

[Mia305]

While nobody could actually confirm it, I have heard this at my school as well from some of the older students.

 

[polf]

We heard about this one resolution at our school from an ASDA. Basically it sounds like the ADA wants the JCNDE to make some sort of exam that will have a scoring system again, but who knows when, or even if this will happen...

"SUBSTITUTE FOR RESOLUTION 70RC:
JCNDE USE OF PASS/FAIL ON NATIONAL BOARD EXAMS

The following amendment to Resolution 70RC (Worksheet:4082) was adopted by the Thirteenth Trustee District and submitted on October 19th, 2008, by Ms. Diane Schaubach, caucus secretary.

Resolution

70RCS-1. Resolved, that the ADA House of Delegates urges the Joint Commission on National Dental Examinations (JCNDE) to modify or replace the current examinations, to make it secure and to validate its use for quantitative scoring on or before November 1, 2011, and be it further

Resolved, that the ADA House of Delegates urges the JCNDE to retain its current system of reporting standard scores from the National Board of Dental Examinations until the new examinations is available."

 

[Mia305]

We heard about this one resolution at our school from an ASDA. Basically it sounds like the ADA wants the JCNDE to make some sort of exam that will have a scoring system again, but who knows when, or even if this will happen...

"SUBSTITUTE FOR RESOLUTION 70RC:
JCNDE USE OF PASS/FAIL ON NATIONAL BOARD EXAMS

The following amendment to Resolution 70RC (Worksheet:4082) was adopted by the Thirteenth Trustee District and submitted on October 19th, 2008, by Ms. Diane Schaubach, caucus secretary.

Resolution

70RCS-1. Resolved, that the ADA House of Delegates urges the Joint Commission on National Dental Examinations (JCNDE) to modify or replace the current examinations, to make it secure and to validate its use for quantitative scoring on or before November 1, 2011, and be it further

Resolved, that the ADA House of Delegates urges the JCNDE to retain its current system of reporting standard scores from the National Board of Dental Examinations until the new examinations is available."

Correct me if I am wrong with my interpretation. The 2010 switch to pass/fail is still in place, but the ADA wants the JCNDE to keep the current scoring system until a new test can be created that can be used as a quantitative measure for applying to residencies. That sound right?

 

[Cold Front]

Correct me if I am wrong with my interpretation. The 2010 switch to pass/fail is still in place, but the ADA wants the JCNDE to keep the current scoring system until a new test can be created that can be used as a quantitative measure for applying to residencies. That sound right?

ADA is pushing for a scoring system, but the Joint Commission on National Dental Examinations (JCNDE) have unanimously voted for the new PASS/FAIL system back in March.

I don't know what the big fuzz is about. Until JCNDE considers the proposal and accept it, the PASS/FALL will continue to be in effect for post 01/2010 exams.

 

[Hysteria24]

This is the most recent document I can find (April 2008): http://www.ada.org/prof/ed/testing/jcnde_enewsletter_april_08.pdf

 

[StudentDentist]

ADA is pushing for a scoring system, but the Joint Commission on National Dental Examinations (JCNDE) have unanimously voted for the new PASS/FAIL system back in March.

I don't know what the big fuzz is about. Until JCNDE considers the proposal and accept it, the PASS/FALL will continue to be in effect for post 01/2010 exams.

That's all good and everything...until we find out a year from now that the JCNDE decided to reverse the decision at least temporarily and make it scored again. And those of us at P/F schools'll be like..."mutha...I should've paid attention in class afterall!"

 

[canada5]

If there will be a minimum score to pass such as 70, doesn't that make it pass fail anyway. Whats the big deal. A pig in a suit is still a pig.

 

[Hysteria24]

If there will be a minimum score to pass such as 70, doesn't that make it pass fail anyway. Whats the big deal. A pig in a suit is still a pig.

This whole topic really only has relevance to those looking to specialize. Board scores are one of the biggest criteria that programs use when selecting residents.

 

[TheWiredNerv]

If there will be a minimum score to pass such as 70, doesn't that make it pass fail anyway. Whats the big deal. A pig in a suit is still a pig.

The whole purpose of the national boards were to test to see if you were competent enough to enter clinic, not to see if you could specialize or not.

In a sense, the scores on the boards were being misused.

 

[gryffindor]

The whole purpose of the national boards were to test to see if you were competent enough to enter clinic, not to see if you could specialize or not.

In a sense, the scores on the boards were being misused.

Um no. Part I tests very little info that is necessary to survive in clinic. If you let a bunch of students who have only passed part I into the clinic, the only things they'll be able to do is identify teeth, figure out if cranial nerves are malfunctioning, and maybe test the lateral movements of the jaw. Part II tests much more clinical dentistry, but the purpose of Part I is to try and prevent that blank, clueless look from your face when they call you "doctor" three years from now. Part I is probably most relevant to OMS since that's one of the few specialties where you will probably use some of the info tested on a more regular basis.

 

[TheWiredNerv]

By that I meant you passed your basic sciences.

 

[StudentDentist]

If you read through the meeting notes posted, one big reason for the p/f nature of Part I is to maintain security of the test. By "security," they mean they want to restrict people from memorizing the questions and building an exam bank. ...minimizing "exposure" to questions. This is a problem when people take the exam multiple times just to try to get a higher score for specializing, largely because the committee doesn't really write new test questions often. In other words, making the exam p/f is supposed to allow them to not rewrite questions often. If questions changed yearly, they wouldn't care that the test was scored numerically or whehter specialty programs used the scores for admissions.

 

[wigglytooth]

For those who can, check the new Nov. issue of ASDA news, page 2. I'd post the entire issue, but I don't know if I am allowed to distribute it via SDN.

FTA:
"The 2008 ADA Annual Session was the first opportunity for the ADA House of Delegates to consider the implications of the NBDE changes, and they took advantage of it. Dr. Arthur Dugoni, long time supporter of organized dentistry and student issues, proposed an amendment to a resolution that could result in more full-body reconstructive surgery to the NBDE. Essentially, the resolution urges the Joint Commission on National Dental Examination (JCNDE) to rewrite/restructure the exam in such a way that it will be a secure and valid assessment of candidates by November of 2011. Further, the resolution requests that the current system of reporting standard scores be left in place until the new exam is ready. I will share with you some of the arguments for this resolution as presented in caucuses and on the House floor.

[...]

Either way, the people have spoken, and hopefully the JCNDE will listen and act accordingly. While the ADA does not control the JCNDE, they have made a clear and strong recommendation – lace up."

So it seems like nothing was decided by the JCNDE, which makes the test. What happened is that the ADA strongly suggested the above changes.

And this is for my homeboy, wirednerv:
http://www.ada.org/prof/ed/testing/adea_2008_jcnde_update_nbde.pdf

page 8:
"Underlying assumption: Part I and Part II are a series of two examinations designed to evaluate the theoretical knowledge base underlying the competent practice of general dentistry, which is a unified field of practice comprised of many elements.

Expressed purpose: to assist state boards in determining the qualifications of dentists who seek licensure to practice dentistry. The examinations assess the ability to understand important information from the basic biomedical and dental sciences and also the ability to apply such information in a problem-solving context."

The test was to make sure students had their basic knowledge so they know the theoretical knowledge and don't mess up in practice (ie. in the clinical portion of their education and beyond).

 

[I'mFillingFine]

If it does happen, I'm disappointed that I'm one of the two years that have low scores from the change in format, haha.

2007: First "pilot" year of new format. People in general did better than they had predicted
2008: They changed it and people got much lower scores (my friends are all adding 5 to our scores, and it's amazing! It turns it proportionally identical to last year)
2009: Another year of low scores probably
2010: P/F?

So....for the two years with lower scores, shouldn't they get their own statistics? 😎