ABSTRACT
BACKGROUND: As one measure of comparability of student experiences on a 2-month surgery clerkship, scores on the National Board of Medical Examiners Surgery Subject Examination (NSSE) were evaluated against a number of variables. METHODS: NSSE scores for 701 students completing the surgery clerkship over 3.5 years were analyzed. Students rotated at academic, VA, and community hospitals with 1 month of general surgery paired with 1 month of a surgical subspecialty. The effect of 15 rotation site pairings on NSSE performance was analyzed by analysis of variance. The relationship of site-specific student evaluation variables and NSSE scores was examined by stepwise multivariate linear regression. RESULTS: No statistical differences were demonstrated between NSSE scores and site-specific parameters of duty hours, resident participation, or type of hospital, nor between NSSE scores and paired sites constituting the overall clerkship experience. CONCLUSION: Performance on the NSSE was not impacted by any assigned paired sites, supporting comparability of overall clerkship experiences.
