Shelf Exam Grading Criteria
The following policies on the role of the NBME Subject Exam in the Clerkships were adopted by the Educational Policy Committee on January 9, 2003:
- Honors. The criteria for honors in a clerkship must include achieving a score on the relevant NBME Subject Examination that equals or exceeds the 90th percentile nationally for the quarter in which the examination was taken.
- Satisfactory. The criteria for a grade of satisfactory in a clerkship must include a score on the relevant NBME Subject Examination that equals or exceeds the 5th percentile nationally for the quarter in which it was taken. The values for the 90th and 5th percentiles are obtained from the most recently available national scores (provided by the NBME).
- Special circumstances:
- These criteria do not apply to the Ambulatory Primary Care Clerkship, nor to the Neurology experience.
- A student who is retaking an exam is graded on the criteria that applied to the first attempt. Example: If the student failed a shelf exam in the first quarter with a score of 59 (5th percentile score = 61) and retook the exam in the second quarter, the student would need a 61 to pass, even though the 5th percentile score nationally for quarter 2 is now 63.
- If a student must retake a clerkship because of a prior grade of unsatisfactory in that clerkship, they are graded using the shelf exam criteria for when they originally took the clerkship. Example: A student fails the Surgery clerkship in the third quarter and must repeat it in July of their senior year. The student’s Surgery Shelf Exam would be graded using the third quarter standard, even though the other students in the clerkship are graded based on the first quarter criteria.
- If a student must take a clerkship(s) for the first time in a later academic year than their other clerkships, they are graded on the fourth quarter standard. Example: A student took two months off in September and October to study for a retake of USMLE Step 1 and must now take his OB-Gyn Clerkship in July and August of the following academic year. The student’s OB-Gyn Shelf Exam would be graded using the fourth quarter criteria, even though the other students in the clerkship are graded based on the first quarter criteria.
- These rules apply only to students who took their first clerkship AFTER July 1, 2003. Any student who began their clerkship experiences before July 1, 2003 is subject to the clerkship guidelines that applied in academic year 2002-2003.
