Guillermo Yanowsky-Reyes

Assessment of the Mexican Board of Pediatric Surgery Certification System

OBJECTIVE To evaluate the quality of the Mexican Board of Pediatric Surgery (MBPS) certifying system, using contemporary international guidelines. DESIGN Retrospective assessment of evidence collected during the design and implementation processes of 2 consecutive applications of the MBPS certifying examination, using Cizeks checklist for evaluating credential-testing programs. It includes the relevant guidelines from the American Education Research Association, the American Psychological Association, the National Council on Measurement in Education, and the National Commission for Certifying Agencies. Four independent and previously trained raters used the checklist. They underwent a 2-week training using frame-of-reference and performance dimensions methodologies. SETTING Certification examinations of MBPS. POPULATION The 2013 and 2014 MBPS certification examinations, with 111 evidence items of the processes, followed for the assessment of 86 examinees. RESULTS The checklist internal consistency was 0.89. Absolute interrater agreement was 0.34 for the 2013 and 0.66 for the 2014 editions of the examination. The 2013 examination complied with 55 (64%) of the checklist 86 items, in 2014 with 72 (84%). CONCLUSION In 2014, the certifying system reached a quality of 84%. For optimal fulfillment of its social responsibility, the MBPS is required to maintain its level of quality and attempt to improve its performance.

Agenesis of the vocal cords in a female infant with Robin sequence.

Servicio de Genética, División de Pediatrı́a, Nuevo Hospital Civil de Guadalajara ‘Dr Juan I. Menchaca’, Servicios de Cirugı́a, Cardiologı́a Pediátrica, Antiguo Hospital Civil de Guadalajara ‘Fray Antonio Alcalde’ and Instituto de Genética Humana ‘Dr Enrique Corona-Rivera’, Centro Universitario de Ciencias de la Salud, Universidad de Guadalajara, Guadalajara, Jalisco, México Correspondence to Dr Jorge Román Corona-Rivera, MD, PhD, Instituto de Genética Humana ‘Dr Enrique Corona-Rivera’, Centro Universitario de Ciencias de la Salud, Universidad de Guadalajara, Sierra Mojada 950, Edificio P, Nivel 2, Col. Independencia, Guadalajara, Jalisco 44340, México Tel: + 52 33 1058 5200 x7995; fax: + 52 33 3617 8738; e-mail: rocorona@cucs.udg.mx