Does hands-on obstetric US experience improve performance on the radiology oral board examination?

PURPOSE To investigate whether the inclusion of hands-on obstetric ultrasonography (US) experience as a formal part of radiology residency affects performance on the US section of the oral board examination. MATERIALS AND METHODS An electronic survey was sent to all radiology residency programs to assess (a) the time assigned to US rotation, (b) the inclusion of obstetrics in US rotation, and (c) the opportunity for hands-on scanning of obstetric patients. Blinded results from the 2002 Diagnostic Radiology Oral Board Examination were provided by the American Board of Radiology. We recorded the overall examination score, US section score, and individual score for all obstetric cases for each resident from programs that responded to the survey. A Student t test and stratified statistical analyses were performed. This study was determined to be exempt from institutional review board approval. Residency directors who consented to participate were informed of pertinent information. RESULTS Of the 159 programs, 64 (40.3%) responded and 63 (98%) of these had scores available. US section scores were provided for 280 residents, with 869 obstetric case scores. Fifty (79%) of 63 programs provided the opportunity for hands-on obstetric scanning. After adjusting for covariates, there was no significant difference in individual resident performance between residents with hands-on scanning experience and those without hands-on scanning experience (P = .61). When evaluated according to program, there was no significant difference in performance between programs with and those without hands-on training (P = .39). CONCLUSION Radiology resident performance in obstetric US on the American Board of Radiology Oral Board Examination is similar for programs that provide the opportunity for hands-on obstetric scanning compared with those that do not.