the meaning of the OKAPs

[Incandescent]

Hey all,

Soon to be ophthalmology resident here. (I am in my intern year).

While rotating through ophtho rotations as a medical student, I heard a lot about the OKAPs. I gathered that it was an in-service exam, but am still unsure what the importance of the exam is and why it is a big deal. does it make a difference for fellowship or something? do residencies generally require you to score above a certain percentage? do you take the test every year of your residency, and if so, does the exam change as you progress through your residency (like the usmle)?

i'm just curious. sorry if these questions seem naive. thanks for whatever insight you can provide 🙂

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[orbitsurgMD]

Hey all,

Soon to be ophthalmology resident here. (I am in my intern year).

While rotating through ophtho rotations as a medical student, I heard a lot about the OKAPs. I gathered that it was an in-service exam, but am still unsure what the importance of the exam is and why it is a big deal. does it make a difference for fellowship or something? do residencies generally require you to score above a certain percentage? do you take the test every year of your residency, and if so, does the exam change as you progress through your residency (like the usmle)?

i'm just curious. sorry if these questions seem naive. thanks for whatever insight you can provide 🙂

Most programs think they are important and are a reflection on the quality of training they offer (true or not) and of the candidates they attract. So should you want to well on them if you can? I can't think why not.

I would say they are similar in scope to the real ophthalmology boards, perhaps a little more difficult and with more basic science emphasis.

Most fellowship directors don't require a report of your boards, but if you ace the subsection of your fellowship subspecialty, it couldn't hurt to make sure they knew about it.

 

[Jokestr]

First of all, some attendings look at the OKAPS and judge you as a resident based on your score...just like any other test you have taken in your career. Whether this is a good judgement or not is debatable, but does not matter to some attendings. Just like Step 1, you will be judged on your performance.
Second, an interesting statistic to keep in mind...people who score above the 15th percentile on the OKAPS tend to pass both written and oral boards. So, bare minimum, you should be striving to get above the 15th percentile. This way you can feel more confident about later passing board exams. Yes, everyone should strive for 99th percentile in every subject, but the reality is 99% of us will not achieve this goal. Do as well as you can, and be sure to read as much as you can and you will learn the necessary material. Just because you have completed med school does not mean you get to stop studying.
Good luck

 

[golgi]

First of all, some attendings look at the OKAPS and judge you as a resident based on your score...just like any other test you have taken in your career. Whether this is a good judgement or not is debatable, but does not matter to some attendings. Just like Step 1, you will be judged on your performance.
Second, an interesting statistic to keep in mind...people who score above the 15th percentile on the OKAPS tend to pass both written and oral boards. So, bare minimum, you should be striving to get above the 15th percentile. This way you can feel more confident about later passing board exams. Yes, everyone should strive for 99th percentile in every subject, but the reality is 99% of us will not achieve this goal. Do as well as you can, and be sure to read as much as you can and you will learn the necessary material. Just because you have completed med school does not mean you get to stop studying.
Good luck

Just wondering if this is from personal experience or if you have a source for it.

 

[nyeyes]

some plastics fellowships asked for okap scores

 

[Wolverine98]

As mentioned, some fellowship apps will ask for the scores. I don't think that majority do, but some do.

At some programs, the pd and/or chair will be the only people who know how you did, and they don't make a big deal about it. At others, they make a huge deal about it, and your attendings will judge you partly based on your score.

To a couple of the original questions: You take the exam every year. The exam itself will be different each year. All residents will take the same exam. There is an absolute score, which is based on one scale for everyone. There is a percentile score that compares you only to people in your same year of training.

Even though some programs don't make a huge deal about it, there's never really an advantage to not doing well.

 

[Andrew_Doan]

Consider this paper:

http://www.medrounds.org/journal-academic-ophthalmology/2008/02/graff-20-24.html

The Ophthalmic Knowledge Assessment Program (OKAP) Examination and Global Evaluation of Resident Performance