Single Institution Analysis of Anesthesiology Residents' Online Question Bank Utilization and In-Training Exam Performance.

Document Type

Article

Publication Date

1-7-2026

Journal Title

J Educ Perioper Med

Abstract

BACKGROUND: The American Board of Anesthesiology (ABA) In-Training Examination (ITE) is an annual assessment used to guide educational progress throughout residency in preparation for ABA certification examinations. Online question banks are commonly used as a study resource for these examinations; however, the relationship between question bank usage and ITE performance has not been well established.

METHODS: We performed a retrospective review from July 2015 to July 2023 to examine the relationship between ABA ITE performance and question bank utilization among anesthesiology residents at MaineHealth Maine Medical Center during postgraduate years (PGY) 2-4. Question bank usage was measured by evaluating the total questions answered, percentage of questions answered in tutor mode, and percentage of questions answered correctly stratified by training and calendar year. Spearman correlation was used to explore the relationship between question bank metrics and ITE score, stratified by PGY.

RESULTS: We observed significant relationships between the percentage of questions answered correctly and both ITE scaled score and national percentile ranking within each PGY. The correlation between percentage of questions answered correctly and ITE scaled score was (ρ = .49,

CONCLUSION: The percentage of online question bank questions answered correctly by anesthesiology residents was positively associated with higher ITE scores across PGY 2-4. The percentage correct of online question banks may be used as a predictive marker for ITE performance.

ISSN

2333-0406

Comments

Blaire Beers-Mulroy

First Page

759

Last Page

759

Link to Full Text

Share

COinS