Skip to main content

Advertisement

SpringerLink
Log in

Using the Psychiatry Resident-In-Training Examination (PRITE) to Assess the Psychiatry Medical Knowledge Milestones in Psychiatry

  • Empirical Report
  • Published:
Academic Psychiatry Aims and scope Submit manuscript

Abstract

Objective

The introduction of the Milestone Project underscored the need for objective assessments of resident progress across the competencies. Therefore, the authors examined the Psychiatry Resident-In-Training Examination (PRITE) utility for measuring improvements in medical knowledge (MK).

Methods

The authors compared the mean performance for each MK subcompetency by resident year for all residents taking the PRITE from 2015 to 2017 (18,175 examination administrations). In addition, they surveyed psychiatry residency program directors regarding how well they thought they teach these subcompetencies.

Results

Increases in MK subcompetencies by resident year were significant for Psychopathology (p < 0.003), Psychotherapy (p < 0.002), and Somatic Therapies (p < 0.000). Development, Clinical Neuroscience, and Practice of Psychiatry did not show statistically significant differences between postgraduate years. Eighty psychiatry program directors responded to the survey and felt optimistic about their ability to teach the Psychopathology, Psychotherapy, Somatic Therapies, and Practice of Psychiatry subcompetencies.

Conclusions

The PRITE measured significant improvements in medical knowledge for several of the core subcompetencies. The program director’s responses would suggest that the lack of statistically significant differences found for Development and Clinical Neuroscience reflects areas in need of curricular development. The disparity between PRITE performance and program director perception of the Practice of Psychiatry subcompetency may reflect difficulties in defining the scope of this subcompetency. Overall, this suggests that structured examinations help measure improvements in certain subcompetencies and may also help identify curricular needs. However, there may be potential problems with the definition of some subcompetencies.

This is a preview of subscription content, log in via an institution to check access.

Access this article

Log in via an institution

Price excludes VAT (USA)
Tax calculation will be finalised during checkout.

Instant access to the full article PDF.

Fig. 1

Similar content being viewed by others

References

  1. Nasca TJ, Philibert I, Brigham T, Flynn TC. The next GME accreditation system–rationale and benefits. N Engl J Med. 2012;366:1051–6.

    Article  CAS  Google Scholar 

  2. Conforti LN, Yaghmour NA, Hamstra SJ, Holmboe ES, Kennedy B, Liu JJ, et al. The effect and use of milestones in the assessment of neurological surgery residents and residency programs. J Surg Educ. 2018;75:147–55.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  3. Nabors C, Forman L, Peterson SJ, Gennarelli M, Aronow WS, DeLorenzo L, et al. Milestones: a rapid assessment method for the Clinical Competency Committee. Arch Med Sci AMS. 2017;13:201–9.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  4. Meier AH, Gruessner A, Cooney RN. Using the ACGME milestones for resident self-evaluation and faculty engagement. J Surg Educ. 2016;73:e150–7.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  5. Quinn SM, Worrilow CC, Jayant DA, Bailey B, Eustice E, Kohlhepp J, et al. Using milestones as evaluation metrics during an emergency medicine clerkship. J Emerg Med. 2016;51:426–31.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  6. Colbert CY, Dannefer EF, French JC. Clinical competency committees and assessment: changing the conversation in graduate medical education. J Grad Med Educ. 2015;7:162–5.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  7. Swing SR, Cowley DS, Bentman A. Assessing resident performance on the psychiatry milestones. Acad Psychiatry. 2014;38:294–302.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  8. Guerrero APS, Beresin EV, Balon R, Brenner AM, Louie AK, Coverdale JH, et al. The competency movement in psychiatric education. Acad Psychiatry. 2017;41:312–4.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  9. Beresin EV, Balon R, Coverdale J. The psychiatry milestones: new developments and challenges. Acad Psychiatry. 2014;38:249–52.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  10. Isaak R, Stiegler M, Hobbs G, Martinelli SM, Zvara D, Arora H, et al. Comparing real-time versus delayed video assessments for evaluating ACGME sub-competency milestones in simulated patient care environments. Cureus. 2018;10:e2267.

    PubMed  PubMed Central  Google Scholar 

  11. Padilla A, Benjamin S, Lewis-Fernandez R. Assessing cultural psychiatry milestones through an objective structured clinical examination. Acad Psychiatry. 2016;40:600–3.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  12. Dingle AD, Boland R, Travis M. The PRITE examinations: background and future directions. Acad Psychiatry. 2018;42:498–502.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  13. Hift RJ. Should essays and other “open-ended”-type questions retain a place in written summative assessment in clinical medicine? BMC Med Educ. 2014;14:249.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  14. Boland RJ, Lester NA, Williams E. Writing multiple-choice questions. Acad Psychiatry. 2010;34:310–6.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  15. Thomas CR, Keepers G. The milestones for general psychiatry residency training. Acad Psychiatry. 2014;38:255–60.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  16. The Accreditation Council for Graduate Medical Education. The Psychiatry Milestone Project [Internet]. [cited 2018 Aug 14]. Available from: https://www.acgme.org/Portals/0/PDFs/Milestones/PsychiatryMilestones.pdf?ver=2015-11-06-120520-753

  17. Dewan M, Manring J, Satish U. The new milestones: do we need to take a step back to go a mile forward? Acad Psychiatry. 2015;39:147–50.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  18. Fung LK, Akil M, Widge A, Roberts LW, Etkin A. Attitudes toward neuroscience education among psychiatry residents and fellows. Acad Psychiatry. 2014;38:127–34.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  19. Benjamin S, Travis MJ, Cooper JJ, Dickey CC, Reardon CL. Neuropsychiatry and neuroscience education of psychiatry trainees: attitudes and barriers. Acad Psychiatry. 2014;38:135–40.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  20. Fung LK, Akil M, Widge A, Roberts LW, Etkin A. Attitudes toward neuroscience education in psychiatry: a national multi-stakeholder survey. Acad Psychiatry. 2015;39:139–46.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  21. Benjamin S, Widge A, Shaw K. Neuropsychiatry and neuroscience milestones for general psychiatry trainees. Acad Psychiatry. 2014;38:275–82.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  22. Coverdale J, Balon R, Beresin EV, Louie AK, Tait GR, Goldsmith M, et al. Teaching clinical neuroscience to psychiatry residents: model curricula. Acad Psychiatry. 2014;38:111–5.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  23. Ross DA, Travis MJ, Arbuckle MR. The future of psychiatry as clinical neuroscience: why not now? JAMA Psychiat. 2015;72:413–4.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  24. National Neuroscience Curriculum Initiative. Available at www.NNCIonline.org. Accessed 31 August 2021

Download references

Acknowledgements

The authors wish to thank Laura Edgar and Stanley Hamstra of the Accreditation Council for Graduate Medical Education, Nancy Siderits of Prometric, and Kathryn Delk of the American College of Psychiatrists for their assistance and advice at various stages of this project.

Funding

The authors received support from the American College of Psychiatrists, who provided access to the required data and funding for the effort required to isolate and export the needed data.

Author information

Authors and Affiliations

  1. Baylor College of Medicine and the Menninger Clinic, Houston, TX, USA

    Robert J. Boland

  2. University of Nevada, Reno School of Medicine, Reno, NV, USA

    Arden D. Dingle

  3. University of Pittsburgh School of Medicine, Pittsburgh, PA, USA

    Michael J. Travis

  4. Johns Hopkins University School of Medicine, Baltimore, MD, USA

    Lauren M. Osborne

  5. University of Florida, Gainesville, FL, USA

    Michael A. Shapiro

  6. University of Virginia School of Medicine, Charlottesville, VA, USA

    Vishal Madaan

  7. Tripler Army Medical Center Psychiatry Residency Program, Honolulu, HI, USA

    Iqbal Ahmed

Authors
  1. Robert J. Boland
    View author publications

    You can also search for this author in PubMed Google Scholar

  2. Arden D. Dingle
    View author publications

    You can also search for this author in PubMed Google Scholar

  3. Michael J. Travis
    View author publications

    You can also search for this author in PubMed Google Scholar

  4. Lauren M. Osborne
    View author publications

    You can also search for this author in PubMed Google Scholar

  5. Michael A. Shapiro
    View author publications

    You can also search for this author in PubMed Google Scholar

  6. Vishal Madaan
    View author publications

    You can also search for this author in PubMed Google Scholar

  7. Iqbal Ahmed
    View author publications

    You can also search for this author in PubMed Google Scholar

Corresponding author

Correspondence to Robert J. Boland.

Ethics declarations

Ethical Considerations

The protocol was reviewed by the Partners Healthcare Institutional Review Board, which determined that the project met the criteria for exemption 45 CFR 46.101(b) (1) Research conducted in established or commonly accepted educational settings involving normal educational practices.

Disclosures

The authors were all members of the PRITE Editorial Board or PRITE Commission at the time of this project. They did not receive any financial or other support as part of this role.

Additional information

Publisher's Note

Springer Nature remains neutral with regard to jurisdictional claims in published maps and institutional affiliations.

Rights and permissions

Reprints and permissions

About this article

Check for updates. Verify currency and authenticity via CrossMark

Cite this article

Boland, R.J., Dingle, A.D., Travis, M.J. et al. Using the Psychiatry Resident-In-Training Examination (PRITE) to Assess the Psychiatry Medical Knowledge Milestones in Psychiatry. Acad Psychiatry 46, 331–337 (2022). https://doi.org/10.1007/s40596-021-01537-5

Download citation

  • Received:

  • Accepted:

  • Published:

  • Issue Date:

  • DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/s40596-021-01537-5

Keywords

Search

Navigation