Family Medicine Mandatory Assessment of Progress

Objective To report the results of a pilot in-training progress test, the Family Medicine Mandatory Assessment of Progress, taken by first- and second-year postgraduate family medicine trainees. Design Assessment of resident performance on a key-features approach multiple-choice progress test. Test questions were developed by competency content area experts. Setting University of Toronto in Ontario. Participants First- and second-year family medicine residents. Main outcome measures Construct validity was assessed based on performance on the test by first- and second-year residents, Canadian and international medical graduates, and residents with more or less than 1 month of relevant clinical experience. Results Pilot progress testing of family medicine residents (N = 255) at the University of Toronto revealed a significant 1.6% difference ( P < .01) in mean scores between first- and second-year postgraduate family medicine trainees and achieved construct validity across many parameters studied. The agreement coefficients for residents being identified as the poorest performers ranged from 0.88 to 0.90 depending on the domain of practice assessed. Conclusion Competency-based progress testing using the key-features model is a valid means of assessing the progress of family medicine residents.