Correlation between results of the residency admission test and of pediatric certification test in Buenos Aires, Argentina

In the city of Buenos Aires (CABA), pediatric residents enter the residency program after taking a unified admission test. After completion of the program and passing a final test, the Universidad de Buenos Aires (UBA) provides a professional certification. The objective of this study is to determine if the results obtained in the residency admission test (RAT) and those of the professional certification test (PCT) correlated. This is a cross-sectional study, that included all subjects who passed the pediatrics RAT in CABA in 2004-2009, and that attended the pediatric PCT of the UBA. The score for each subject in both tests was obtained and the corresponding correlation was calculated. Results were divided in quintiles, and the proportion of subjects who improved their position in the PCT with respect to the RAT was calculated. Data from 303 subjects was obtained. The RAT showed a median of 45.0 (over 60 maximum) (IC-range: 43.0-48.7), and the PCT showed a median of 6 points (over 10 max.)(IC-range: 6-8). A significative correlation between results in RAT and PCT was observed (r = 0.37, p < 0.001). Based on their position in the RAT, 43.8% of subjects improved their position in the PCT, without differences between residents attending pediatric and general hospitals (45.6 vs. 31.5%; p = 0.1). In the case of pediatric residents, results of the residency admission test correlate with those obtained in the professional certification test.