2023 ARRS ANNUAL MEETING - ABSTRACTS

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1734. RadDiscord Survey of Protected Academic Time Across US Residencies: Does More Dedicated Study Time Correlate With Lower Board Scores?
Authors * Denotes Presenting Author
  1. Grace Zhu *; University of Utah Health
  2. Amit Chakraborty; Stanford
  3. Alexander Xie; Aon
  4. Richard Wiggins; University of Utah Health
Objective:
The need for protected study time in preparation for the American Board of Radiology (ABR) Core exam has been a point of significant contention. official name of the Association of Program Directors in Radiology (APDR) is that resident time off from clinical service is not recommended. Historically, 10-16% of first-time examinees fail the ABR Core exam annually, so it is no surprise that many programs give residents protected study time and time free from call duties. RadDiscord, with its large member base, including 470 residents who recently took the June 2021 Core exam, had a unique ability to query institutional study resources, such as protected study time, and correlate this with board score performance. The goal of this research is to survey, report, and analyze institutional protected time of RadDiscord residents, and better understand whether protected time is important in the ABR Core exam preparation process.

Materials and Methods:
This study was IRB exempt. RadDiscord residents who took the June 2021 ABR Core exam were provided an anonymous survey including demographics, length of protected study time, and perception of various study tools, including internal residency formal didactics. The collected data was analyzed using the analysis of variance regression (ANOVA) and unequal variance t-tests.

Results:
A total of 136 RadDiscord residents responded (out of 470, 29%), including 88/136 (65%) from academic programs, 31/136 (23%) from hybrid programs, and 17/136 (13%) from community programs. Of the 135/136 (99%) residents who reported the amount of protected study time, 14/135 (10%) reported no protected study time, 8/135 (6%) had 1-2 weeks, 20/135 (15%) had 2-4 weeks, 55/135 (41%) had 4-8 weeks, 30/135 (22%) had 8-12 weeks, and 8/135 (6%) had 13-24 weeks. Of the 14 residents who reported no study time, 11 (79%) were from academic programs and 3 (21%) were from hybrid programs. There was an inverse correlation between study time and board scores, with increased study time correlating to decrease in board scores (p < 0.05). Most of the residents reported their satisfaction of their internal residency formal didactics. Residents in programs without protected study time were more satisfied with their internal reviews (3.8/5) compared with residents with protected study time (2.3/5), (p < 0.05). There was a positive correlation between perceived internal faculty lecture quality and board scores, though this did not reach significance (p = 0.17).

Conclusion:
There is an inverse relationship between study time and board performance, which is likely multifactorial. Programs with no dedicated study time had higher perceived internal faculty lectures and other institutional resources that may contribute to the higher board performance scores.