Validation of an interventional pulmonary examination.

BACKGROUND: Interventional pulmonology (IP) is an emerging subspecialty with a dedicated 12 months of additional training after traditional pulmonary and critical care fellowships with fellowships across the country. A multiple-choice question (MCQ) examination was developed to measure didactic knowledge acquired in IP fellowships.

METHODS: Interventional pulmonologists from 10 academic centers developed a MCQ-based examination on a proposed curriculum for IP fellowships. The 75 multiple-choice question examination was proctored, time limited (120 min), and computer-based. The examination was administered to IP faculty, IP fellows in their last month of fellowship, graduating pulmonary and critical care fellows in their last month of training, and incoming first-year pulmonary and critical care fellows.

RESULTS: The mean score for IP faculty was 87% (range, 83%-94%), 74% for IP fellows (range, 61%-81%, SD 5.09, median 76%), 62% for graduating pulmonary and critical care fellows (range 52% to 73%), and 50% for incoming pulmonary/critical care fellows (range, 35%-65%). There was a graduated increase in mean scores with level of IP training. Scores differed significantly across the four groups (P = .001).

CONCLUSION: A validated MCQ examination can measure IP knowledge. There is a difference in IP knowledge based on IP training exposure.