f_w said:
(With the overseas IMG schools, you can observe an interesting 'Lake Wobegon' phenomenon: All schools are above average! Even though 4 schools represent 60% of the US-IMG pool, all of them claim pass rates for step1 in the 90%+ range. I did the math once. With an overall pass rate of 57%, this claim leaves something like a 5% pass rate for people from places like Ireland the UK and Australia.....)
No offense, but I'm skeptical about your numbers.
What are your sources and how did you go about calculating this?
For 2002, the
ECFMG lists the following numbers for US citizen first time takers for Step 1:
3,942 first time USIMG takers;
1,657 passing (42%)
As for the standard certificates issued that
year (yes, I know it is not the same, but I don't have better numbers);
-Grenada (SGU): 379 non-Grenadians of about 90% are US citizens = 341 USIMGs
-Dominica (Ross): 389 non-Dominicans of about 90% are US citizens = 350 USIMGs
-Netherlands Antilles (which in addition to AUC, contains a number of other schools with lower pass rates): 258 non-Antillians of about 90% are US citizens = 232 USIMGs
Add these up: 923 successful USIMGs from the Big 3, plus a number from 'lesser schools' hidden among that number
Divide 923 by 1,657 = 55.7%
No Lake Wobegon effect by my very crude calculation. If you've got better numbers, please feel free to post them.
Miklos
NB Australia did not make that year's list with less than 50 IMGs getting certified. Ireland barely made the list, with 64 IMGs of whom 52 were non-Irish. The UK also barely contributed with more citizens going abroad (probably to the Carib.) with 44 UK grads and 60 UK citizens.