The Pediatric Boards Pass Rate Could be 100% This Year!
I Know You Don't Believe It, But It's TRUE!
The pediatric boards pass rate had been horrendous for years. BUT, after a very long time, the the American Board of Pediatrics (ABP) finally decided to make some long-needed changes in 2012. In the prior years, your grade was essentially determined based on a curve. The curve was meant to ensure that 20-25% of first-time test takers failed the pediatric boards resulting in a pediatric boards pass rate of about 75 – 80%. So, your chances of succes were determined by the mix of your peers. If your peers were smarter than you, that meant you were more likely to fail!
The ABP's New Way of Grading
Now, they have a new way of grading the initial certification exam. They finally decided to pass you the same way you were graded in elementary school. If you get more than a certain number of questions correct, you pass! That's it!
Based on my discussions with the American Board of Pediatrics, the number of questions you'll need to answer correctly will be somewhere in the range of 70 to 75%. They told me in 2012 that these changes would still result in a similar overall pass rate of 75 – 80% for first-time test-takers, but in reality, it did NOT! The pass rate in 2012 was staggering 86%! And it is now FINALLY possible for every single test-taker to pass the boards as long as at least 75% of the questions are answered correctly.
These changes had truly been a long time coming, but kudos to the American Board of Pediatrics (ABP) for finally making this change. Much of has to do with policy set forth by the American Board of Medical Specialties (ABMS), but who really cares about the politics as long as it's more FAIR and EASIER to pass.
About 50% of the PBR customers come here looking for a solution because they have previously failed the pediatric boards by using other study materials. It's been heartbreaking, but with these new changes I'm hopeful that we'll consistently see much higher pass rates for pediatricians going forward, AND the phenomenon of MULTIPLE failures by the same pediatrician will be a thing of the past.
For now, if you make sure you're using the best pediatric board review book around and follow the instructions to the letter then you should do great!
Hmm… You know, the more I think about it, it's possible that 2013 is the best year to take the pediatric boards in a very long time.
Would love to hear your thoughts. Do you think the new system or the old system is better/fair? Would love to know so post a reply below!
UPDATE: To see read more about what ended up happening in 2012, click here to read “American Board of Pediatrics’ Pass Rates Revealed!”
