Analysis of the effect of COVID-19 on medical specialty certification examinations

Abstract :

Objectives: To describe the measures taken by the Israeli Medical Association's Scientific Council (ISC), since the outeak of the COVID-19 pandemic, to mitigate its consequences on the Israeli specialty certification examinations. To highlight distinctive aspects of the ISCs policy regarding specialty certification examinations in comparison to other healthcare systems around the world.Methods: An independent assessment of the logistical and health-related outcomes of the specialty certification examinations process was carried out, with a statistical analysis of multiple aspects of the specialty certification examinations in comparison to previous years (2018-2019). Results: In Israel, the pandemic oke out several weeks prior to the 2020 spring oral board specialty certification examinations, dictating their immediate postponement. However, by utilizing quick, agile and attentive decision-making processes, and by making meticulous preparations under worst-case scenario assumptions, the ISC has managed to conduct all specialty certification examinations originally planned for 2020 within a highly condensed period of 8 months, making Israel one of the only countries in which written and oral specialty certification examinations were administrated throughout the pandemic.The analysis shows that all 2020 examinations were on par with examinations conducted in previous years in terms of participation, internal consistency, and pass rates, and that their execution involved no health-related issues. Conclusions: ISC had managed to mitigate the pandemic's consequences on the Israeli specialty certification examinations, without compromising validity, reliability or equivalence of the examinations in comparison to previous years. This approach can be implemented without compromising the level or quality of specialty certification examinations, with minimal logistical costs, and may inspire localization of specialty certification examination processes in other healthcare systems. Additionally, lessons learnt during the process may benefit future attempts to develop decision-making processes for potential future health crises.

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