• Yvette Calderon, Michael S Beeson, Mary M Johnston, Kevin B Joldersma, and Earl J Reisdorff.
• Department of Emergency Medicine, Albert Einstein College of Medicine, New York, New York.
• J Emerg Med. 2022 Jun 1; 62 (6): 793-799.

BackgroundHealth care inequity is corrected more readily when safe, high-quality care is provided by physicians who reflect the gender, race, and ethnicity of patient communities. It is important to train and evaluate racially diverse physicians involved in residency training.ObjectiveThis study sought to determine any test-taking differences for black Emergency Medicine (EM) residents and whether any such differences would narrow as residency progressed.MethodsThis was an observational, cross-sectional study that reviewed performance (scaled scores) on the American Board of Emergency Medicine (ABEM) In-Training Examination (ITE) for 2018, 2019, and 2020. The study included EM residents in 3-year programs who took the ITE. A linear regression model was used for the variables of race, which included black physicians and white physicians (reference group), and level of training (EM resident year 1 [EM1] as the reference group).ResultsThere were 9591 residents included; 539 were black and 9052 were white. Mean scaled scores were higher as a function of training level. Regression showed a scaled score intercept of 73.51. The ITE score increased for all groups as a function of training level (EM2 β = +5.45, p < 0.0001; EM3 β = +8.09, p < 0.0001). The regression coefficient for black residents was -5.87 (p < 0.0001). There was relative improvement by training level compared with improvement in the reference group, but this difference was not materially or statistically significant.ConclusionIn this study of the ABEM ITE, a test-taking performance gap identified early in residency for black physicians persisted into late residency.Copyright © 2022. Published by Elsevier Inc.

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